


Running From the Sun (I Can't See the Light)

by bettertoburnout



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, F/F, Gun Violence, Minor Violence, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies, bechloe - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 71,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24421843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettertoburnout/pseuds/bettertoburnout
Summary: Beca x Chloe - Beca is spending a fortnight with her parents and younger brother Jesse when the apocalypse hits, except this is no ordinary virus causing widespread panic & carnage, and the whole world is soon affected. Chloe is separated from her group of aca-friends, but soon finds refuge with Beca and Jesse, and each group continues the fight to survive.
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell, Stacie Conrad/Aubrey Posen
Comments: 9
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The first 16 chapters were written in 2013 and the subsequent 13 chapters in May 2020. The original fic is available at https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9920881/1/Running-From-The-Sun-I-can-t-see-the-light - for the purpose of archiving here, original author notes have been excluded, bar the one explaining the divide between content written in 2013 and content added in 2020.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as the note says I originally wrote the first half of this in 2013 and then over the last few days came back to it finally and wrote the second half. I originally posted this & all my other works to fanfiction.net and now i'm copying them across so if there are any weird issues or anything please let me know, the original is still available on my profile under the same name on fanfiction.net (bettertoburnout) but hopefully I've managed to pull it all across correctly.   
> It was an interesting experience collaborating with my 17 yo self and my past writing. I never had a proper outline for where I wanted this story to go and so it was definitely a challenge in some respects to pick up from the mid-point of a 7 year old story and round it off, but I had fun with it and hopefully ended it in a fun way! Thanks for reading and enjoy x

I'd been on holiday with my parents and my brother Jesse when it happened. We had a lodge out in the country where we'd often spend summers together, although less frequently now that both Jesse and I had moved out. I was 22, and Jesse 19, and my parents had decided that it was time for another family vacation to keep us close. In truth, I'd reveled in the opportunity to escape my tumultuous home life when I turned 18, but I'd have been lying if I said that I wasn't also secretly looking forward to being in that quiet, snow-covered lodge nestled amongst the trees once more. It was enough to make this trip bearable. My plane touched down onto Georgia soil after a grueling 9 hour flight from London, and I practically fell into my mother's arms, which she took as a cue to start crying. My parents had in fact been divorced since I was 14, but they agreed to keep up the family vacations in order to make it up to me and Jesse. The whole arrangement worked for me; two weeks without the 'step-monster' as I so childishly nicknamed my father's new partner, and in which I could relax entirely, surrounded only by my relatively laid back family. I could tell that my father was still upset with my decision to move to London in order to pursue my music career, but though I felt this underlying tension as he hugged me tightly, I could still feel the love there and that was enough to let me know that things were still okay between us. Smiling tiredly, I pulled away and hefted my backpack onto my shoulder.

"Let's go, I need to sleep in a comfortable bed for several hours." I groaned, and my parents laughed as they helped me take my luggage to where they had parked the car just outside the airport. The Atlanta climate was like a slap in the face after the consistent coolness of London air, and I was sweating before we even reached the vehicle. Thankfully, it was comparatively a much shorter journey from the airport in Atlanta to our lodge, and I was asleep for most of it anyway. I woke to Jesse shaking my shoulder excitedly.

"Becs! Wake up!" I grunted and stretched, batting his hand away as I did so.

"Fuck off Jesse." I mumbled groggily, opening my eyes slowly.

"Language, Beca." I heard my father call over his shoulder as he walked towards the house, suitcase in his arms, but I merely rolled my eyes. Jesse was still grinning at me from the open car door, and I unbuckled my seatbelt and finally relented, hugging him tightly.

"It's good to see you dude." I laughed. He nodded as he drew back, still grinning. When I finally stumbled into the lodge, I noticed that my mother had turned on the little TV in the kitchen, and was staring at it intently, bags of groceries sat forgotten on the counter where she had initially placed them after entering.

"What's on that's so interesting?" I asked, beginning to sort through the bags myself. She took a moment to answer.

"I don't know, hun, some kind of incident in New York… Some sort new disease I think. It's killed a lot of people already." Her tone betrayed her worry, and I paused in my actions.

"Well, we picked a good time to come out here, to the middle of nowhere then, huh." I joked, attempting to lighten the mood. She turned to me and smiled sadly, nodding. We packed away the rest of the groceries quickly after that, and she turned off the TV as we did so. Soon, the news update was forgotten as we all sat around the large oak table tucking into dinner.

"So how's college, Jesse?" My father asked, beaming proudly at his son who sat across from him. He was extremely glad that Jesse had chosen to attend college at all, especially as I had refused entirely, and not only that, but Jesse was studying medicine.

"It's great thanks dad. The course is really interesting and not too hard, and I've met a ton of cool people already." I smirked at him and chuckled as he blushed slightly, looking down at his plate. I may not have attended college myself, but I wasn't oblivious to the typical college life. My parents didn't notice this exchange however, and turned to me now.

"And how's things with you, Beca?" I tilted my head slightly, irritated by the tone of slight disappointment in my father's voice.

"Good thanks. I've got a decent apartment of my own now, and I'm making good connections. I've had a few good slots recently, I think things are picking up for me now." I was trying hard to make it as a DJ, which wasn't easy as I had quickly discovered. Still, I was doing fine on my part-time job at a clothing shop, and with what gigs I did manage to get. My parents nodded politely, turning back to Jesse to question him further about his first year of college as a med student. I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment. Here was the family that I had come to resent, the one that always favoured Jesse, that never supported my decisions. Still, they were family, and there was no getting past that.

The next few days were spent in a similar relaxing, if slightly annoying, fashion. I spent a lot of time making mixes or simply sitting outdoors, enjoying the heat, and my father and Jesse would often go fishing down at the nearby lake. It was a week into the vacation that things really started to kick off. I was helping my mom in the kitchen, and we had the TV on in the background as we prepared vegetables for the stew we were making for dinner. I wasn't the best cook in the world, but I figured I might as well give my mom a hand as I had nothing better to do. There was a slight lull in our light conversation, and in that I heard a sentence that made me listen in properly to the news report that was currently showing on the television behind us.

"...The outbreak began in New York, and since then has spread rapidly to the surrounding states. We do not yet know the nature of the infection, only that those affected have become first extremely ill, and then in the second stage of the illness, violent, attacking anyone around them, even family and friends. We advise everyone to take extra sanitary precautions until we know more about how the disease spreads, and to stay indoors where possible. We will update you as soon as we know more." The news reporter moved on to another story, and I turned to my mother, seeing the same shock that I was feeling reflected in her face.

"It's spread already?" I murmured, and she nodded slowly. Just then, my father and Jesse came in through the back door, each carrying a bucket of fish and crabs.

"We've had a great day on the lake today, haven't we Jesse?" Dad said proudly, patting Jesse on the shoulder. He nodded, and they deposited the buckets beside the sink.

"Guys… there's some kind of mega-infection spreading across the country right now. It was just on the news…" I stammered, and they turned to me, confused expressions on their faces.

"Infection? What do you mean? Like flu?" Jesse queried, and I shook my head quickly.

"They don't know what it is. Apparently it makes you really ill at first and then you turn violent, attacking anyone around you. Including those close to you. They don't know how it spreads yet." Jesse looked bewildered and a little scared, but then my dad spoke up, his booming voice cutting through the tension in the room like an axe.

"There's no need to scaremonger, Beca. It's nothing more than another minor epidemic, probably something brought in by all those darn tourists. We'll be fine out here." I sighed, but I knew that he was probably right about us being safe out here. We were in the middle of nowhere after all, and not that close to New York. There was no point in worrying, and besides, we were meant to be on holiday. So, we forgot about it again. That is, until it turned up on our doorstep one morning, screeching and clawing and covered in blood. It came for us.


	2. Chapter 2

"John!" My mother screamed, as I lunged forward to pull her out of the grasp of the man lying on our doorstep. He was making awful screaming noises himself, reaching out to grab at me desperately as I approached, still clutching at my mom's leg with one withered hand. She had gone to answer the door, and was met with this bloodied mess of a man dressed in tattered overalls. At first, I had watched on from the hallway as she bent down to help him, frantically fussing over him as she took in the sight of his various wounds. And then he had launched himself at her, viciously swiping at her arms and snarling. That's when I had intervened.

"What the fuck man! Let go!" I yelled, finally tugging my mother's leg out of his grasp, just as he brought his mouth up to it as if to take a bite. I then stepped forward and adopted an aggressive stance. He looked ill, that was for sure. His skin was a mottled red colour, with patches of white, purple and green showing through as though he was covered in one massive bruise. Then, there was the slash across his back, which was still bleeding profusely, although it looked to be a day or so old. His eyes, when I glimpsed them, were rolling back into his head, the pupils dilated and cloudy, like that of a blind man. I was terrified to say the least, but then my dad came running up behind me bearing his shotgun, which he quickly aimed at the man's head.

"Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to get off my property now before I have to put a bullet in you." He stated calmly, and the man merely screeched in response. My father gave him a few more warnings, before finally shooting a round into the man's leg. He yelped a little, but kept on trying to reach for us, to drag its bloated body across the doormat. My dad looked as though he didn't want to take any further action, although the man was slowly advancing now, dragging himself further into the house.

"Dad," I spoke calmly, turning slightly to half-face him. "Give me the gun." He blinked at me, dazed. Then, he shook his head.

"No."

"I said, give me the gun dad." He shook his head again, and I huffed, reaching up to pry it from his grip. He struggled for a second, but then the man retched and screamed again, projecting blood across the hall carpet, and he released his grip on the weapon in shock, allowing me to take it from his grasp. Before he could try to take it back, I aimed it at the man's head and fired. The shot echoed out, through the open door and into the forest beyond, causing several birds to fly up out of a nearby tree. My family stared at me in horror, tears already gathering in my mother's eyes.

"Beca… you.. you just…" I nodded slowly, also in shock at what I had just done. I had just killed a man… I had just…

"Wait, turn on the TV." I cried, rushing into the kitchen, still carrying the gun in one hand. My family followed nervously, and I turned to a 24 hour news channel, relieved to see what I needed to in that moment; another update on the illness.

"This just in - the infection, now termed, 'RA7', has spread across most of the US, and reportedly to several other countries around the world, in particular Britain and Japan. RA7 is believed to be some sort of neurological infection, caused by a new, unidentified virus that is being termed 'RA'. Scientists are still unable to determine how infection is caused, but we are greatly concerned by the speed at which it is spreading. We are being told to advise you all to take extra precautions when around others, and to stay indoors as much as possible." I turned to my family, shaking slightly.

"He had it. He had RA7. That was it. The second stage… first you get really sick and then you attack people, just like that. I had to do it." Jesse had gone completely white.

"Do you think… do you think we have it?"

"I don't know." My father was still staring at me in shock.

"Rebecca Mitchell. You… you just killed a man." I looked at him, eyes burning with tears.

"I had to do it, I was trying to protect you all! That was more of a zombie than a man, you try telling me that you didn't feel threatened!" I didn't even realise that I'd started shouting. He too raised his voice in response.

"I didn't say I didn't feel threatened, but there were other ways to deal with that Beca. That was murder! I.. I-" He broke off, suddenly staring at the entrance to the kitchen, which I had my back to.

"What the-" He was cut off by a roar, shortly followed by the body of the man that I had just supposedly killed lunging forwards and barreling into him, knocking him to the floor. It wasted no time in ripping into the delicate flesh of his neck.

"DAD!" I screamed, throwing myself forward and ripping the man off of him, pushing him to the floor and once again firing a bullet into his head. He slumped back, and I watched in horror as after a few seconds, he began to twitch and rise once again.

"He won't die!" I shrieked, as my mother and Jesse bent over my father, desperately pressing at his wounds. RA7… What could that stand for? I didn't have much time to think as the man was lunging at me again, swinging his hands towards me clumsily. I fired again and again into his chest and face, watching in horror as the flesh flowed back together before my eyes. Finally, I was backed up against the wall and out of rounds, so I used the butt of the gun to push him back and eventually out of the back door, which I shut and locked quickly, before running to do the same to the front door.

"Jesse, help me get all the windows shut and locked!" I yelled, and he sprinted out to help me, tears and blood staining his panic-stricken face.

"He got dad, Becs, he got dad." He whimpered, and I bit my lip hard as I fastened one of the windows tightly.

"I know Jesse. I tried to kill him but.. he wouldn't die."

"What could possibly cause him to reanimate like that?" Jesse mumbled, and suddenly it hit me.

"Jesse! RA7 - re-animate 7 - I knew it! It is that virus, it makes you sick then it turns you into some kind of… zombie, one that keeps being reanimated after death!" He turned to me, fear shining in his eyes.

"Becs… if that was a zombie, and it bit dad, does that mean…" my stomach flipped completely as realisation hit, and Jesse and I raced back into the kitchen, where we were met with a scene of carnage. My father, already red and purple and patchy like the other man, was digging his fingers into my mother's back, pulling her towards him as he began to screech wildly.

"Mom! Get away from him!" I screamed, but it was too late. Jesse cried out and fell to his knees as our dad bit into her, the blood from both their wounds cascading onto the tiled floor. My head was spinning and my heart pounding loudly in my ears, but my survival instinct kicked in and I grabbed the back of Jesse's shirt, hauling him to his feet.

"Jesse, we have to get out of here. NOW!" I yelled, shoving him out of the kitchen in the direction of the front door.

"Wait-" he began, but I cut him off.

"No, Jesse, we have to go, we can't save them, we-"

"Beca! I know we need to get out of here, it's obviously not safe enough, but we need weapons. We need supplies. We have to take a backpack okay?" I suddenly realised that he was right, and nodded quickly, already running to the nearby cabinet in search of ammunition for the shotgun.

"Everything we need is in the kitchen with… with…" He stopped, choking back a sob. I nodded again, turning the problem over in my mind.

"I have an idea, but it's kinda risky."

"Tell me. We don't have much choice." He muttered grimly, and so I quickly explained.

"Okay, there's another 50 rounds here, and I know dad has more in the shed. This is enough for the first stage of the plan though. I'll lure them both out of the back door and outside whilst you grab what we need from the kitchen. Put everything into those massive hiking rucksacks we have in the attic, and make sure to bring clothes and toiletries as well as food. Torches, knives, everything. I'll take them as far into the woods as possible before doubling back and getting what I need from the shed. I'll come to the front door and ring the bell when I'm back. Until then, don't open any of the doors or windows, okay?" Jesse agreed to the plan, and we set about carrying it out. First, I helped him to get the rucksacks from the attic, and then we packed our clothes into our individual rucksacks. There was still plenty of room in both when I handed mine to Jesse, and he acknowledged that fact grimly.

"There should be a torch in the kitchen cabinet, but I'll look for one in the shed too, it might be there. Get all the canned food, and anything else you can fit in, okay? I'll be back as soon as I can be." I could see that he was still fighting back tears, but I knew that we didn't have time for that right now, and I signaled that I was going to start the second phase of the plan. I sprung into the kitchen, gun at the ready, and both my parents, now in the reanimated state, turned to stare at me with blinded eyes. I called out to them as I ran past, almost slipping several times in the blood that coated the floor before reaching the back door and kicking it open.

"Come on, this way!" I shouted, grimacing as they stumbled to their feet and lurched after me, surprisingly fast. I started jogging out towards the forest, and I saw Jesse moving across the kitchen to close the door behind us. I gave him a little salute, and then I was alone. Well, sort of. My breath was already ragged in my chest, particularly in the stifling heat of the summer, and I was getting a stitch in my side.

"Fuck, I should have kept up with the jogging." I gasped. I could hear my parents… the zombies, crashing through the foliage behind me, and sped up slightly, alarmed by their increasing pace. I was armed, but I knew that they would just keep on coming back even if I shot them, so my only real chance was to run until I could lose them and double back. Suddenly, another figure loomed out from behind a tree ahead of me, blocking my path. I shrieked, and barged past roughly, noticing the same white eyes watching me go. Another one. Another fucking zombie.

"Well that's just wonderful." I muttered through gritted teeth, already trying to loop back towards the lodge. The screeching from behind me was intensifying, and I couldn't help but think that this might draw in anything else that might be lurking around in amongst the trees. Sighing, I decided to take action. Turning to face my pursuers, I fired a shot into each of their heads, taking off as soon as they slumped to the floor. Hopefully that would give me enough time to escape them and make my way back to the house without them following. It seemed to work, and I slowed my pace slightly, allowing my breathing to level out and my thoughts to flow. What had I really just done? Both my parents were dead, although that wasn't my fault, but I had tried to kill a man today. I realised that I couldn't carry on with these thoughts if I wanted to make it back to Jesse in one vaguely coherent piece, and so I started jogging lightly again, breathing a sigh of relief as the lodge came into view. I went carefully round to the back, making my way over to the shed as quietly as possible. I knew the combination for the padlock, and was soon inside, searching for the necessary items. There were several more packs of rounds, probably making over 300 in total, and as well as that a couple of torches, spare batteries, pliers, a hammer, a screwdriver, an axe, a bucket, a coil of thick wire, rope, a shovel and a can of petrol. It dawned on me that I'd need the rucksacks out here in order to get all this stuff together as fast as possible, and so I ran back to the house and rang the bell, allowing myself a small smile of relief as Jesse opened the door, handing me a bulging rucksack and shouldering his own.

"Found what you need in the shed?" He asked, and I nodded, gesturing that he follow me round. We wasted no time in packing the supplies, and soon each rucksack was completely full, and ridiculously heavy. Jesse had gathered plenty of food and medical supplies as well as the clothes and toiletries that we'd packed earlier, and with the extra weight of the tools, I could hardly stand upright. I wasn't exactly tall, standing at about 5"2 to Jesse's 6"0, but I forced myself to manage the weight. He now carried the axe in one hand and a steak knife in the other, and I still had the shotgun under one arm and a hundred rounds in each pocket of my jacket.

"So… where do we go now? What do we do?" Jesse asked in a quiet voice as we started walking towards the woods in the opposite direction to that I had taken earlier, and I stopped in my tracks. I hadn't really planned this far ahead.

"I don't know… I guess we just… we just keep moving. We can't go back to Atlanta, we'll just get infected what with all the people. We should find one of those small country towns and see if anyone will take us in." He nodded, and we set off once again. We walked for hours, until he finally spoke up again, his voice hoarse and strained.

"Becs, can we… can we stop now please? I have to, I h-" he choked out a sob mid-sentence, and sank to his knees, tears beginning to stream down his face. I knelt down in front of him and placed my hands on his shoulders and only now let myself cry too. My parents were dead - I finally confronted that reality. The worst part was that they were dead and yet they weren't, they were still shuffling around trying to tear people apart, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop them now. And so Jesse and I knelt there sobbing quietly as the darkness drew in, until finally I rose to my feet, the tears having dried up a while ago, and began to make a camp.

"We'll have to take turns to sleep." I stated calmly, back to shutting off all emotion in the wake of what had just occurred. Jesse was still kneeling on the floor, head bowed, and I wasn't sure what else to do but to carry on making preparations for the night before it got too dark.

"We have to survive, Jesse, we have to, for them. I still haven't entirely come to terms with what just happened today, but we have to keep pushing forward, I know that much. We still have each other, okay?" I saw him nod, but he made no further effort to move, and I decided to leave him be whilst I lit a small fire. We had stopped in a clearing bordered by dense foliage, and I hoped that it would reduce outside visibility enough to warrant even this tiny fire. I dug some food out from my pack, a can of sardines, and handed him one of the forks he'd packed. He took off his pack now, and shuffled closer to the fire, taking in the heat of the flames as he tucked into his can. I did the same, and as I finished, I looked up to see that he had fallen asleep where he sat beside the fire. I smiled slightly. He must have been completely exhausted, and so I took the first watch, only waking him up several long hours later, when the moon was up and my eyelids were far too heavy. We traded shifts throughout the night, and by the morning we were rested enough and still alive, which was apparently quite something in light of this new plague. And then, someone dived straight into the middle of our makeshift camp, all flailing limbs and screaming, and I leapt to my feet, gun ready to fire before I heard her speak.

"Don't shoot!" I gaped as she scrambled to her feet, brushing her hair out of her face. Another person had found us already.


	3. Chapter 3

I kept my gun aimed at her head as she rose, although my finger left the trigger.

"Who are you? What do you want?" I hissed, looking around to check that nothing had followed her. She bit her lip, fighting back tears.

"My name is Chloe, Chloe Beale. I was escaping Atlanta with a group of friends, and we were hiking through the woods but we were attacked by those… things and got separated. I saw you through the bushes and thought you might be them…" She trailed off, looking at me sheepishly. Jesse was frozen in a crouch beside me, watching her carefully. I sighed, and lowered the gun, gesturing that she sit.

"Okay. I guess you can stick with us for a bit until we can find your friends, alright?" She nodded rapidly.

"Yes, thank you so much! I'm really sorry for scaring you." I smirked slightly.

"That's okay. You hungry?" I was altogether too aware of the effect that this girl was already beginning to have on me - She was, quite simply, breathtakingly beautiful, and as she smiled at me I felt an explosion of butterflies in my gut. I handed her a can of peaches and the opener, before turning back to Jesse, who was still watching her with suspicion in his eyes.

"What are you doing, Beca?" He whispered. I shrugged.

"We might as well help her, and besides, there's safety in numbers. We might do better in a larger group, perhaps her friends will help us out in return." I didn't want to tell him that the real reason I hadn't wanted to send this girl packing with a gun to her head was that I was already extremely attracted to her, but he seemed satisfied with my answer anyway and sighed, turning away to sort through his rucksack. I turned back to the girl, who was exuding a sense of relief and exhaustion as she ate.

"I've been running around this forest for a few days now, just looking for somewhere safe. I'm so glad I found you guys." She mumbled.

"Yeah, it's pretty lucky." She looked up at me now, her piercing blue eyes meeting mine with apprehension.

"Did you guys come from the city too?" I shook my head slowly.

"No, our family owns a lodge up here, we were staying there, my parents, my brother Jesse and I." I pointed over to where Jesse sat as an introduction.

"If you don't mind me asking… what happened? We all thought it'd be safe this far out…" I bit my lip, brow creasing slightly.

"We… some guy, one of the people infected, he turned up on our doorstep and went for my mom, so I sort of shot him. And then he came back to life, and attacked my dad and bit him. Jesse and I were locking all the doors and windows when we realised the nature of the infection, but when we got back to the kitchen where our mom was looking after dad, it was already too late. He got her, and they both turned, so we had to lure them out into the woods and gather all these supplies before leaving. We figured we'd find a small farming village somewhere far out from Atlanta, see if we could hole up there." I noticed tears forming in her eyes as well as mine, and I cleared my throat firmly, determined to tough it out in front of her.

"That's awful… I'm so sorry." I shrugged.

"Yeah."

"By the way, I never got your name…"

"Beca." I replied quietly.

"Beca… I love that name." She smiled softly, and I returned it, if weakly. She shuffled closer, and I blushed a little at the increased proximity.

"We should probably head out soon, I don't want to stay in one place for too long." I stated briskly, standing up and moving over to my rucksack. Chloe lowered her eyes, nodding.

"You haven't told us what happened in Atlanta yet." Jesse finally spoke up, and I looked back over my shoulder at him, noticing the resentment still evident in his face.

"Oh, right. Well, I was at college there, staying on campus for a few weeks with some friends until I could go back to my parent's house, when all hell broke loose. There were those news reports first, which I'm sure you saw, and lots of people were already panicking and leaving. We stayed, but then people started getting attacked all over the city, and the police started evacuating everyone to this army base somewhere further out. We were on our way to the evacuation point when we were intercepted and attacked by a group of the infected, and we had to run for it. We got lost out here, and then a few nights back I got separated from the others and now here I am." I could hear the worry in her voice.

"How many of you were there?" I asked gently.

"Eight, nine including me." she exhaled audibly, her breath shaky. Jesse was looking at the ground again now, as if he was ashamed of his emotions towards the redhead. I went and knelt beside him, lowering my voice to speak to him directly.

"What's wrong, Jesse?"

"I'm sorry, I'm just still torn up over yesterday, that's all. I can't wrap my mind around exactly what has happened yet. It's all been so fast, I'm just really on edge Becs." I understood how he felt; I too was still reeling with loss and anxiety, but I was pushing forward because I knew that we couldn't afford to sit back and let this just happen to us.

"Come on, we should go." I spoke louder now, and both Chloe and Jesse responded by getting to their feet and starting to collect up our things. This was going to be an interesting day to say the least.

meanwhile…

"Amy, keep up, we need to get a move on if we're going to find somewhere to stay before dark. Besides, we need to make the most of the light to look for Chloe." I barked, aware that my tone was steely. Amy, who was trailing behind the group, merely chuckled in response.

"I definitely should have taken that cardio tip more seriously, that's for sure." She panted, and the others laughed. I just scowled. The group consisted of Amy the joker, Bumper, her rival / partner in crime, Stacie the sex-addict, Donald the middle-man, Lily the quiet creepy one, Ashley the nice one and Denise the peace-maker. I was, by default, the leader, as I had been in charge of the Bellas back in college, the acapella group that all the girls were part of. Bumper and Donald were part of the rival acapella group, the Treblemakers, but somehow they'd managed to tag along with us, and I wasn't about to chuck them out now. I may have been bossy, but I wasn't heartless. Anyway, their strength and survival knowledge had come in handy so far. The only person missing from our group was Chloe, my best friend of three years. We'd met at college and been close ever since, practically like sisters by this point, and losing her had been really hard on me. It had all happened really quickly, and we had no idea how we'd do it, but we all agreed that we had to find her. And so, we trudged on through the dense woodland, crudely sharpened sticks at the ready in case of another attack. Somewhere behind me, I could hear Donald teaching Lily to beatbox, and Bumper trying to chat up Amy, and I was so busy listening in to these other conversations that I didn't hear another person approaching, leaning down to whisper into my ear.

"You okay, Bree?" I jumped, startled, and spun round to see Stacie grinning triumphantly. I snorted and kept moving, the others oblivious to this interaction.

"Fine, thanks, or at least I was until you came over here and scared the crap out of me." I grumbled. She giggled, and I couldn't help but smile with her. She'd been really great since we lost Chloe, staying by my side and making sure that I was dealing with it okay. She knew how close Chloe and I were, and I couldn't thank her enough for her support in response to that. She walked close to me now, our hands brushing idly as we moved in tandem.

"What do we do… what do we do if we can't find her, Bree?" she suddenly asked in a timid tone. My face froze.

"I… I don't know, Stace. I don't know." It was an idea that was totally abhorrent to me, leaving these woods without Chloe, but I knew it was one that I would have to consider before long. I had the safety of the rest of the group to consider, and knew that we couldn't survive in here without adequate supplies forever. We were already running low.

"Just give me a few more days, then we'll talk more about it, okay?" I muttered, and she nodded, falling back to walk with Ashely and Denise who were chatting cheerfully. I sighed, and plowed ahead, still scanning the horizon for that flash of red and blue that would lead me back to her. She had to be here somewhere. She had to be.


	4. Chapter 4

We set off in the direction that the sun had risen in that morning, East, which I hoped would bring us out of the forest but in the opposite direction to Atlanta. Jesse had told me that he and dad often studied a map of the surrounding area for when they went hiking and hunting together, and that if we carried on due East, we'd come out the right side and be able to find some smaller town somewhere. Sadly, the map hadn't been in the house or the shed, and we hadn't thought to check the car.

"Come to think of it, we should really have brought the car." I mused, stopping for a second as I watched Chloe's eyes widen and Jesse's brow furrow.

"You guys have a car back there?" I nodded, and Jesse grunted in frustration.

"We didn't even think to get it out of the garage. We could still go back? That way we could drive out to some other town, and have somewhere sheltered to stay until we find one."

"Or until we run out of petrol. Still, there's probably a few extra canisters in the garage, and we could take more supplies if we had a vehicle… Okay, let's go back for it." I decided, and Chloe beamed at me.

"Thank goodness, a car will make things so much easier. But wait, how will I find my friends if we leave the forest?" I shook my head.

"I don't know. I guess you wouldn't be able to… I know, give me one of their names."

"Uh, Aubrey." She replied, and I took a deep breath before yelling as loudly as I could.

"AUBREY!" a couple of birds rose up out of nearby trees, and Jesse grabbed hold of my shoulder, eyes blazing.

"Beca! What the fuck do you think you're doing?! You're gonna call any of the infected right to us!" I sighed.

"Look, we can escape them if they do arrive, there's only a few in these woods so far. I'm just trying to get Chloe back to her f-" Something screeched from behind me, and I reacted instantly, spinning round and firing without thinking.

"Run!" I cried, watching as the infected man collapsed to the floor. We broke into a sprint, and I called to Jesse to lead us in the general direction of the lodge. Something else was crashing through the bracken behind me, and I looked over my shoulder in time to see three more of the infected racing towards us at an alarming rate.

"Shit." I hissed, grabbing the axe from the outer pocket of Jesse's pack where he had stowed it. Still running, I swung it at each of them, severing their heads in a few laborious motions. Chloe was yelling at me to keep up, but I had to slow down in order to hack at each of the bodies. I figured that if I mutilated them enough, it'd buy us some running time while they reanimated. Right? I grimaced as blood spattered up from the bodies, but wasted no time in turning on my heel and dashing back towards Chloe and Jesse, who were watching on in horror.

"Go!" I grunted, and they did so, all of us crashing haphazardly through the branches, still following Jesse's lead.

"Beca…" Chloe began, but I cut her off.

"Look, I know that was horrible and I probably seem like a total psychotic bitch but I'm just doing what I have to, I swear. I swear." I didn't realise that I was almost crying, but I couldn't bring myself to look and see her reaction to my words as I clumsily wiped my face with the back of one bloodied hand. She remained silent, the only sound our laboured breathing as we struggled to keep pace. Eventually, we came to a place that I recognised, and I called out to Jesse.

"This is that lake, Jesse!"

"Yeah, I know. We'll be there soon." He replied, still jogging, and I willed myself to keep going just a bit longer. Chloe looked as though she was about to collapse, and without thinking, I grabbed her hand and began to pull her along with me. She didn't betray any surprise at my touch, instead squeezing my hand in hers and smilingat me. I didn't have the energy to smile back, but I felt happiness at the contact spreading through me. Finally, we arrived back at the lodge, and all collapsed in a heap in front of it, gasping desperately for air.

"Fuck… that was… really… really… not fun." I panted, clutching at my side. Chloe nodded, also breathing heavily. Jesse was already unlocking the front door cautiously, reaching over to the mantlepiece just inside and grabbing the keys to the garage and the car. He closed the door quietly, and then made his way over to the garage door, that was adjacent to the lodge itself. I staggered to my feet, and after pulling Chloe up beside me, followed him over. I didn't notice that neither of us had released our grip on each other's hands, and Jesse eyed us suspiciously as we trailed over still holding hands. I glanced down and blushed, but Chloe just giggled as I pulled away. We soon had the door open, and the car unlocked, and began packing our stuff into the trunk immediately.

"Shall I do another sweep of the house?" Jesse asked, and I nodded.

"That's a good idea. We can take a lot more now, so grab whatever else we might need." He exited through the door that joined the garage to one of the back rooms of the lodge, axe in hand as a precaution, and I began to search the shelves and cabinets in the garage for anything else we could take. I found five spare containers of petrol, a road map of Georgia and a few other surrounding states, a handgun, more ammo and some old CDs. I stowed all of these items away into the footwells of the backseats, making sure to load the handgun, put on the safety, and tuck it into my belt, placing the remaining ammunition into the glove compartment. Chloe watched on as I did this, tilting her head to the side slightly as if she was contemplating my actions. I turned my head in her direction and quirked an eyebrow.

"Can I help you?" She seemed flustered.

"Sorry, sorry I didn't realise I was staring. I was just watching how you handled that gun…" I shrugged, moving to stand just in front of the anxious-looking girl.

"My dad used to take me out shooting with him every summer. I hated killing animals though, so we used to practice on a range that we built out in the forest. I'm used to handling guns." She nodded in understanding, though she hadn't asked for an explanation. I still felt that I owed her one.

"About earlier… I'm sorry that I scared you. I'm sorry that I put you in danger too, I wasn't really thinking." I searched her eyes for the reproach that I expected to see, and instead was met with a look of something entirely the opposite.

"Beca, it's okay. I guess I'm still getting used to the idea that this is actually happening… You did the right thing when they attacked, and you were only trying to help. You ended up saving us I guess, so it's okay. You did well." We exchanged tentative smiles, and I almost reached up to touch her face, but then Jesse came back in carrying a couple of plastic bags bulging with food and extra clothes.

"I got a whole lot more stuff Becs, fruit and vegetables too." He grinned, seeming happier than he had been since this had all started. I returned his smile, taking the bags from him and putting them into the trunk with the rest of the supplies.

"Good, at least we won't get scurvy now." I joked, winking at him playfully. He stuck his tongue out in return, and I laughed. We were all in better spirits now, although Chloe kept throwing glances back out at the forest.

"You okay?" I asked, noticing this.

"Yeah, sorry, just thinking about my friends again. There are an awful lot of the infected out there, and if we leave I don't know that I'll ever see them again…" She trailed off, a single tear sliding down her cheek. I went back over to her, taking her hands in my own. A bold move for me, but I felt it was necessary.

"Chloe, I need you to trust me on this. We can't take anymore chances out there… This could be our only hope of survival, driving further out from Atlanta, and… I mean, we could always technically leave you here but I don't want… I couldn't do that. I really don't want to have to do that, Chloe, please don't make me leave you." The emotion was colouring my voice, and I struggled to hold it back as she gazed at my face in wonder.

"You really mean that?" I nodded furiously.

"Yeah. And who knows, we may meet up with them again further down the road. But right now, we need to stick together and live, okay?"

"Okay." She smiled gently, and god, I wanted to kiss her just then. But Jesse cleared his throat from the back seat of the car, and I blushed and turned back to face the vehicle, moving around to the driver's side.

"Jesse, why are you in the back?" Chloe queried, tentatively opening the passenger door, not yet climbing into the seat. He shrugged.

"The packs are back here, I figured I should be here in case we need something from them, I know where all the stuff is, after all."

"Oh, okay." Chloe replied, finally taking the passenger seat and closing the door behind her.

"Okay, we all set?" I asked, looking to the others, who nodded in unison.

"Right then, let's go." I sighed, starting up the engine. We turned right out of the drive, and began our journey. Chloe spent the whole time staring out of the windows, looking for her friends presumably, and Jesse was soon snoring away in the back. I hummed quietly to myself, already missing the presence of music, which usually had such a large part in my daily life. I carefully extracted a CD from the pile and inserted it into the player, turning the volume down low so as not to wake Jesse. The opening chords of some old folk song flowed out of the speakers next to me, and I smiled. My dad had always had a thing for this sort of music. I didn't know the song, but it didn't take long for me to pick up the melody and hum along, even adding some harmonies by the last chorus.

"What was that song?" Chloe asked, eyes never leaving the window.

"No idea, I don't know it." I replied, and now she turned to stare at me.

"Oh… okay." She turned back, and I chuckled lightly.

"So, what were you studying at college then?" I asked, in an attempt to strike up a conversation. I was usually more of the antisocial type, but something made me want to get to know this girl better.

"English." She replied.

"That's cool. You write poetry or something?"

"Sometimes. I prefer writing stories really." I glanced at her, and noticed that she was looking down at her hands now.

"Ooh, even better." I smiled. She looked at me.

"What about you? Do you go to college?" I laughed.

"No, I chose not to. I was out in London working on starting up my music career, but I came back here for a family holiday." She nodded slowly.

"Do you sing?"

"A little. I'm trying to make it as a DJ though, I make mixes and stuff." we sat in silence for a few minutes, until she spoke up again.

"Were you… with anyone before all this?" I shook my head.

"No, thankfully. I'd only have lost them with this, and…" I trailed off, cursing myself for nearly revealing my rapidly growing feelings for the redhead.

"And?" She asked, but I just shook my head again. "Well, I know what you mean. I'm glad I wasn't either." I glanced across and met her gaze, wondering if there was something more than common curiosity behind the question. Suddenly Jesse started awake, arms flailing frantically before he realised where he was.

"Woah… Sorry, I just had a crazy dream." He murmured, slumping back into the seat.

"Want to talk about it?" I asked, and he just shook his head, so I left it, instead concentrating on the music that was still drifting out of the speakers beside me. The light was already beginning to fade, and I decided to pull over so that we could set up for the night.

"We should still sleep in shifts, just in case. I'll take first watch." I stated, and Jesse leant forward at that.

"No, I will. I just slept a few hours, I won't be able to sleep for a while now anyway."

"Alright, thanks. Wake me up after a few hours, okay?" I conceded, and he began digging some food and blankets out from one of the rucksacks. Chloe was watching me again, and I could feel her eyes traveling across my face as I took a can and the opener from Jesse. I smiled, and offered it to her. She took it carefully, and I felt her fingers brush across mine as she did so, causing me to shiver slightly with desire.

"Thank you." she said, seeming extremely grateful, and I smiled in response.

"That's okay." I took my own can, and we began to eat our tins of canned vegetables and cold baked beans.

"Tomorrow night we can stop a little earlier, make a fire to cook these and then move a little farther for the night. That way we won't be in any danger, and we can eat something a bit nicer." I looked to the others to see their reactions, and they seemed pleased with the suggestion.

"Something cooked would be lovely." Chloe sighed, prodding at the beans in her can with a fork dejectedly.

"Tomorrow then." I said firmly, hoping to cheer her up with the prospect of cooked food.

"For tonight, why don't we shift everything around, so that the rucksack that's in the other seat back here goes in the passenger seat, and whoever's on watch can sit in the driver's seat? That way the other two sleeping can lay down back here somehow." Jesse suggested, and Chloe and I agreed, finishing up our food before helping to move everything around without having to leave the car.

"Oh gosh, sorry!" Chloe giggled as she clambered across me to get through the middle section and into the back seat next to Jesse.

"That's okay." I wheezed as she moved from on top of me, blushing a little. Jesse and I then swapped places, and as he got comfortable for his first few hours of the watch, Chloe and I tried to figure out how to manage sleeping in the back seat.

"It's no good, Becs," Chloe laughed after a few minutes of us trying in vain to balance on the seat without touching. "We're gonna have to snuggle up." I was glad that it was too dark for her to see me blushing as I relented and moved in close to her, so that our bodies were pressed tightly together. I was closest to the edge of the seats, and so she grabbed my arms and looped them around her waist, making sure that I wouldn't fall over the edge and onto the floor as we slept. I sighed and gave in to my embarrassment, deciding to just get comfortable and enjoy the proximity for now. She seemed to be enjoying it too, for she hummed contentedly, and began to trace circles on the back of the hand that was exposed atop her waist, interlocking our fingers with her other hand. I froze slightly at this, then relaxed again, smiling into her back happily.

I awoke to daylight, which came streaming through thick strands of red hair as it cascaded across my face. It took me a moment to understand my position, but then I realised that Chloe and I were now facing each other, as she had turned over in the night, and my face was currently pressed into her neck. I swallowed hard, and tried to regulate my breathing so as not to wake her. However, it was too late it seemed, as she shuffled down slightly so that our faces were level, and smiled at me in a languid fashion.

"Morning." She whispered, her eyes flickering to my lips. Or did I just imagine that?

"M-morning…" I stuttered, gazing back at her in a daze. Surely she was about to kiss me, surely-

"Oh, you two are awake." Jesse yawned from the front, craning his head around to grin at us, winking to Chloe conspiratorially as I quickly rolled over to face him.

"Wait a second, Jesse, you didn't wake me to take over!" I gasped, punching him lightly on the shoulder. He just laughed.

"I slept for ages yesterday, I wasn't tired. And besides, you and Chloe looked so peaceful and cosy." He wiggled his eyebrows at me, and I whacked him again, all too aware of my cheeks going red and Chloe giggling good-naturedly.

We all got up and brushed our teeth just outside the car, using bottled water in place of a tap. Then, we ate 'breakfast', and set off again, resuming the same positions we had yesterday. Chloe spent most of the drive watching me this time, only occasionally glancing out of the window, before turning back to me. It was weird, but I was starting to get used to the idea that maybe something would happen between us. At about noon, we were still driving down a road bordering the forest, although we had kept it West of us so far, meaning Atlanta was that side too, and we planned on turning right and going East as soon as possible. Jesse was once again asleep in the back seat, and I was humming along to a new CD when I suddenly felt a hand on my knee, and Chloe's voice rang out, laced with horror.

"Beca, stop the car." I slammed my foot on the break, causing Jesse to start awake again.

"Wha-" he began, and then we heard a scream. Through the window on Chloe's side, we could clearly see a bloody scene taking place in the trees beyond. A young couple were surrounded by a group of the infected, who were losing no time in attacking. I could see that both had been bitten. Chloe's hand was still on my knee, and she squeezed even harder now as began to crawl away again.

"Can't we… I just…" she began to sob, desperate to assist the travelers. Fighting back my own tears of frustration and sympathy, I only sped up, shaking my head as I took her hand in my own now, interlocking our fingers like she'd done the night before.

"There's nothing we can do for them now. I'm sorry." She gulped, and stared at me for a moment with watery eyes before nodding and leaning back into her seat. Jesse was looking out of the opposite window from his seat behind me, and in the rear-view mirror I could see that he'd gone deathly pale. I didn't let go of Chloe's hand as I kept driving, soon doing 80mph, desperate to leave that place behind.

"You okay, J?" I asked, and he just groaned in reply, putting his head into his hands. "You need me to pull over?" He lifted his head again and nodded, and so I slowed to a halt, confident that I'd put enough distance between us and the infected back there to do so, before watching as Jesse leapt out of the car and began heaving into a ditch beside the road. I squeezed Chloe's hand before letting go and exiting the vehicle myself, going over to where Jesse now knelt panting, and placing a hand on his back.

"It's okay." I mumbled, and he sighed.

"I don't even know, Becs. What the heck is happening?" He was crying now, and I didn't know how to respond. I didn't know what was going on and, in truth, I didn't really know what to do either. I just had to keep pretending that I did, for Jesse and Chloe.

"You good now?" I asked him, and he nodded, falling back to sit on the tarmac.

"Can you just give me a minute?" He replied, and so I got back into the car, shutting the door behind me to give him a moment of privacy, only after handing him the axe though.

"Is he okay?" Chloe leant forward, her eyes betraying her concern for my younger brother.

"Yeah, he'll be fine, he just wanted a minute alone." She nodded in understanding. Then, slowly, she interlaced our fingers again, biting her lip and glancing up at me as she did so, as if to check wether it was okay. I smiled back nervously, and rubbed my thumb across hers, which made her smile too.

"Beca… I just wanted you to know that even if we don't end up finding my friends, then I know I'll be okay because I have you. That will make it better. You've been so good to me…" She trailed off, and I could see that she was struggling to form more words. And so I replaced the need to speak with action; I leant forward, slowly at first and then all at once because I couldn't bear the distance any longer, until our lips were practically touching. I paused, to give her a chance to reject me like I feared she might, but she remained silent, her breath mingling with mine in the tiny space between us before I closed it. And then, I was kissing her. I knew that we barely knew each other, but this pace truly suited this harsh new world, and if I'm honest, kissing Chloe gave me something to live for in that moment. We broke away, smiling broadly at each other, and Chloe's gaze moved to the window, where she laughed at what she saw. I turned and saw Jesse giving her a thumbs up, grinning himself, and I just flipped him off jokingly and gestured that he get back in the car.

"I totally called it." He chuckled as he buckled his seatbelt, and I rolled my eyes at him in the mirror.

"Whatever." I retorted, but I couldn't keep the smile from my voice. Maybe things weren't so bad after all.


	5. Chapter 5

"AUBREY!" I could hear Stacie screaming my name from somewhere off to my left, but I couldn't make her out in the darkness. We had been setting up camp for the night when they attacked, and none of us had been ready. One of the infected took out Ashley first, and then Denise as she was trying to save her friend. Donald, Amy and Bumper started fending off the first of the infected and then Denise and Ashley's reanimated bodies, when two more showed up, one trapping me and Lily in front of a tree and the other chasing Stacie off into the darkness. Lily had dispatched the infected in front of us, stabbing it clean through the head with her stick and then pinning each of its limbs to the ground with more of them, driving each stick in like a stake to give us more time to escape. Donald and Bumper were collecting up what supplies they could whilst defending against three infected, and as Lily rushed to help them I chased after Stacie.

"I'm coming Stacie!" I cried, leaping over low hanging branches as I followed the sounds of her screams and the screeching of the infected. I finally caught up with them and didn't hesitate to grab the infected from behind and ram it up against a nearby tree, bashing it's head repeatedly against the trunk until it was mashed in, hopefully giving us time to get away.

"Come on." I said in a defeated yet desperate tone, grabbing Stacie's hand in my own bloodied one, already dragging her back to the others. When we arrived, we saw that they had all the supplies they could manage and were heading out.

"Let's go aca-bitches!" Amy yelled, pumping her fist into the air and leading the frantic charge to safety. We crashed through the trees and bushes noisily at first, trying to gain distance, and then slowed our pace and focused on stealth. If we wanted to avoid those blind-eyed creatures, we had to be silent. They appeared to make up for their lack of sight with their incredible sense of hearing, and one broken twig could mean the difference between life and death right now. I was still clutching Stacie's hand, and had long since stopped worrying about the blood that was now staining her palm as well as mine. She was shaking slightly, and I squeezed her hand comfortingly.

"It's going to be okay." I whispered into her ear, and she nodded. We covered a lot of ground that night, for we didn't dare stop under the circumstances, and by the morning we realised that we could see the edge of the forest.

"We made it!" Amy cheered, fist-bumping Bumper and Lily whilst I turned to look behind us, biting my lip.

"Bree?" Stacie murmured, stepping into my line of sight. I shook my head.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about Chloe again…" I had to stop talking because I was afraid that I would burst into tears, and Stacie put her arm around me shoulders and brought me into her chest, stroking my back soothingly.

"She's not stupid, Bree, she'll have found a way to survive. You know her, she's the nicest person I've ever met, but she sure knows how to stand up for herself." I chuckled a little at the memories that this comment evoked, one in particular of the time that Chloe had thrown Bumper into a dumpster after an acapella competition, when he had insulted me directly, talking shit about my dad and such.

"You know that she's a survivor. I bet she even managed to find another group; she's very friendly after all." Stacie continued, and I could hear the gentle smile in her voice. She truly believed what she was saying, and I did too - Chloe was a survivor, and I knew that I had to trust that and do what was right for the rest of the group now. I stood up, untangling myself from Stacie's arms before turning to face the group, who were watching me attentively now.

"Last night, we lost Ashley and Denise to the infected. I know that was hard on all of us, but we will not let their memory die. And Chloe… Chloe's been missing for almost a week now, and there's nothing more that we can do except trust that she's okay. She can handle herself as you all know, I'm looking at you Bumper." Everyone laughed a little at this, and I continued, feeling more confident. "So we're going to get the hell out of this forest today, and start making our way East, further from Atlanta and hopefully on our way to safety. It's what Chloe would want, and I have hope that some day soon we will be reunited with her." The others nodded now, murmuring their agreements, and I smiled at them.

"So, let's go! I'm ready to get out of these godforsaken brambles." I grumbled, and we set off once more, finally exiting the forest moments later, reveling in the immediate change in temperature and sunlight concentration.

"This is more like it." Amy sighed contentedly, slipping on a pair of oversized sunglasses that she had hidden somewhere about her person. I didn't want to question it. Following the compass that Donald had on his keychain, we headed East, to the future.


	6. Chapter 6

2 weeks flew by, spent entirely on the road. Thankfully, what with the extra storage space that having the car provided, we had enough supplies to last at least a month longer, and so we were confident that we'd reach a town before then and be able to restock in ample time.

"If not, I can always hunt for us." Jesse had mentioned, trying to sound super-manly. I'd just laughed, although I had to admit that the kid was skilled with a rifle and a rod, and he and dad had always been successful on their hunting or fishing trips. Chloe and I grew increasingly close over these two weeks too, and Jesse was loving every minute of it, primarily because he knew how easy it was to embarrass me, especially in front of my new girlfriend. Still, the emotions tied to what was happening around us still weighed heavily on us all, and I'd often catch Jesse crying silently in the rearview mirror, staring out of the window at the landscape flashing past. Chloe would often cry at night, as we lay together in the back seat. Jesse actually let us switch shifts now, although Chloe found that she couldn't really sleep once I had to get up for mine at any point, and so we spent our shifts awake together, smooshed up in the front seat, perching on each other's laps and kissing as much as we liked. It was a peaceful time in truth, and when we could block out the memories of what we'd left behind so recently, we spent it laughing and growing steadily closer. I was still as emotionally closed off as ever, however, and though I freely expressed my utter adoration for the beautiful girl that I had come to be with, I never let her see me cry. Sometimes a tear or two would slip from my eye that she would hurriedly kiss away, but she never saw the awful, throat-shredding sobs that wracked through my whole body, leaving me shaking and cold by the side of the road. When I felt them coming on, a memory that I couldn't quite suppress, I would pull over and walk off into the shrubbery, crying until it was over, and then making my way back to the car as if nothing had ever happened. Of course, I knew that the evidence of these episodes was always clear in my red, puffy eyes and shaking hands, but Chloe never questioned it. She knew it was the one thing that I had trouble with, and I myself knew that Jesse must have spoken to her the first time it happened, understanding my reclusive nature more than she did at that stage. I was really grateful to him for that. I knew that I'd have to talk to her about it eventually, but for the time being I would keep pulling over and retreating into myself instead of letting her hold me as I wept, just like I did for her almost every night. So long as she understood, then things would be okay. And so we fell into a routine, and we started to feel safe again too. Because we were driving all day, we didn't really encounter any of the infected, (although once or twice I was forced to run one down as it threw itself towards the car), and none had found us at night so far. Of course, that was a lucky streak that was sure to soon run out. That, and the petrol supply. We had started with six spare canisters, one from the shed and five from the garage, and we had one and a half left. I brought up the issue with the others over dinner one evening.

"We need to find somewhere to stop for petrol, even if it means raiding someone's garage or something. We're running low, and I don't want to have to leave the car." Jesse frowned, and took out the road map. He'd been trying to plot our approximate journey based on what few road-signs we'd spotted, and from this he gauged that there should be a little town coming up in a couple of miles.

"If we can make it there, we can get petrol and more food supplies. We'll get there tomorrow if we keep our speeds consistent." He exclaimed, seemingly relieved. Chloe and I studied the map ourselves.

"Will we stop there for good do you think?" Chloe asked, and I shook my head slowly.

"No, it's not far enough out from Atlanta or the forest for me. I think we should go further, just to be safe. I mean, unless we can't get enough supplies to cover the distance, in which case we might have to make do." Chloe and Jesse both voiced their agreement, and we started packing up our things for the night.

"Who wants first watch tonight?" I asked. Chloe decided that she would take it as Jesse was already yawning, and this meant both of us squishing into the front seat, Chloe on my lap whilst I attempted to doze lightly. She hummed a tune quietly, playing with my hair, and all the while I could hear Jesse snoring behind me. Suddenly, a much worse sound reached our ears.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Chloe stopped her movements, tensing completely in my arms.

"What was that..?" she whispered. Then, it came again.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"It's… it's something on the back of the car I think?" I replied, sitting up slightly to listen better. Jesse was still snoring loudly in the back, and Chloe reached across to prod him awake.

"Uh, what?" He mumbled, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"There's a weird noise coming from the back of the car, be quiet for a minute." Chloe hissed, and we all sat there, straining to hear something, anything, in the darkness. And then, all of a sudden, something slammed into the window beside Jesse, causing him to leap away to the other side, already pulling the axe from the pack on the floor. I pulled the handgun from my belt as we stared in horror at the infected being that was pressing its face up against the window, dragging what was left of its fingernails down the glass.

"What do we do?!" Chloe whimpered, and I struggled to adjust my position in the drivers seat. I was sat with my legs tucked up underneath me, and with the weight of Chloe atop them, I couldn't move to reach the pedals.

"I need to drive us away, now." I grunted, finally freeing my legs and swinging them down to the pedals. In one quick motion, I started the engine and sped away, leaving the infected screeching beside the road, loping after us a little way before giving up and turning back to shuffle into the forest. Chloe shuddered, and tightened her arms around my neck. Jesse quickly made room for her in the back seat, and she clambered over, freeing up my arms and vision considerably.

"Beca, we should stop now. It's so dark and misty, we might miss the turning for the town in these conditions." He remarked. I scowled.

"Okay, but I don't like it, there's something-" another screech cut through my words, pulling our attention to the left side of the car, where a large group of about thirteen infected were sprinting out of the woods towards our slowing car. I suddenly noticed more breaking out from the undergrowth ahead of us, and cursed, putting my foot down on the accelerator once more.

"There are hundreds of them! I can't stop, I have to keep going." I said through gritted teeth, bracing myself as we ran into one of the creatures that had tried to intercept the vehicle, sending it flying off into the foliage. Several more were pouring out of the trees alongside us, and the numbers were growing even as we drove away.

"Chloe, look out of that side and I'll take this one, we have to try to spot the turning." Jesse yelled frantically, pressing his face up against the window.

"Jesse, I hate to say it but… you do realise that this amount of infected this close to a town can only mean one thing, right?" Chloe spoke quietly, her voice almost a dejected whisper. Jesse clenched his fists.

"But we were so close! We were so fucking close to being okay!" He was crying tears of pure frustration now, and I watched on grimly as Chloe placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly as he finally gave into his emotions, and began sobbing into the back of my seat. Then, she began to sing. I knew that she'd been part of that acapella group back in college, but I hadn't heard her sing until this point - her voice was incredible. She was singing one of my personal favourites, Titanium by David Guetta, and I couldn't help but smile at the way in which she made the song sound so melancholy and gorgeous. She really made it her own. After a verse, I joined in, adding the low harmony, and she met my eyes in the mirror and grinned at me, looking shocked and pleasantly surprised at my own singing voice. Jesse's sobs were fading out to whimpers and sniffs now as we reached the bridge, reveling in the sound that we created together, and as we brought the song to a close, still smiling to each other, he lifted his head and smiled too.

"That was beautiful." He sniffed, wiping at his face with the back of one hand.

"Thanks, I try." I joked, which thankfully got a laugh out of him, and therefore lightened the mood in the car. Still, as this died down again I resumed my thinking; the town we had been aiming for was gone, lost to the infected. We only had enough petrol for a few hundred more miles, and we had yet to figure out where we could try next. Still, there was always hope, right? And as I met Chloe's eyes in the mirror again and saw the smile within them, I knew that she was my hope for now and so long as I had her, I would have something to believe in. (God this apocalypse has made me cheesy.)

We were running dangerously low on supplies. Our food supplies could probably last another week if we rationed them carefully, but I wasn't promising myself anything. I knew that the group was becoming increasingly worried about our situation, and I had to admit that I was too. We were out of the forest now, and heading East. We hadn't wanted to risk the roads as they were still too close to the woodland for any of our liking, and so we crossed into the fields beyond and hiked across them day after dreary day. We tightened up our nightly defense, not wanting a repeat of what had happened just two weeks ago, with Ashley and Denise. But we couldn't stop the feeling of being on edge constantly, and as a result, we were at each other's throats more than usual.

"Bumper, I swear to god I'm going to punch you in the dick if you don't shut. up." Amy grumbled one night, as we sat around our tiny campfire. Bumper had been making irritating jokes again, and I could tell that she was about to snap. Most of us were really. We hadn't seen anything but the same bleak landscape for days on end, and the heat was almost unbearable at times. The food was crap, even though we were grateful to still have any, and I myself was still decidedly unhappy at having left the woods without knowing for sure what had happened to Chloe. I decided to speak up.

"Listen, all of you. I know this has been a tough couple of weeks, and yeah it will probably get worse, I won't lie about that to make you feel better. But the last thing we need is to be at each other's throats constantly! We're surrounded by enemies, we should be sticking together in order to stay safe, you know that. We have to keep pushing forwards." I could see the relenting agreement on their faces as I glanced across the fire to all of them, finally landing on Stacie, who looked like she was about to cry. I made my way over to her calmly, before wrapping her into a tight embrace as the others turned back to their own conversations.

"You okay?" I mumbled into the top of her head, and I felt her shrug.

"I guess, yeah." She sighed.

"Wanna talk about it?" she huffed slightly, and I took that as a no.

"Okay, well I'm here if you do." I began to get up, but then she grabbed my arms and pulled me back down so that I was sat with my arms around her once more.

"Bree, could you… could you stay with me?" I barely heard this tiny whispered plea, but I got the message and happily snuggled closer, tightening my arms as she relaxed back into them with another sigh.

"Of course." I replied. We stayed like that until morning, and then everyone packed up and set off again, still heading in the direction of the rising sun. We were all as exhausted and anxious as ever, but there was still a glimmer of hope in our hearts. Surely we had to find somewhere safe soon. Surely.


	7. Chapter 7

"Do you see anywhere yet?" I called over my shoulder, to where Jesse was stood with his head and shoulders out of the sunroof, scanning our surroundings for potential places to look for supplies as we drove on. We had been running on fumes for an hour or so now, and I was worried. Not only did the noise of the car draw in the infected, meaning that if we stopped suddenly we'd probably be attacked soon after, but leaving the car behind at this stage seemed like a death-wish in itself. Chloe was sat in the passenger seat beside me still pouring over the map desperately.

"If we could make it about 150 miles more we'd make it to this little intersection here, there's bound to be something like a gas station there." She was saying, when Jesse suddenly fell back into the car, beaming and yelling.

"GUYS! I see something up ahead, a gas station! Turn right here."

"Are you sure? Does it look safe?" I asked, disbelief clouding my sense of overwhelming relief.

"Yes Beca, just turn right okay!" He laughed, and Chloe voiced her agreement, also grinning.

"We're going to be okay!" she whispered, and I bit my lip and nodded, still wary but at the same time rejoicing along with them. I turned off as the station came into view, and pulled onto the forecort carefully, already looking around for signs of the infected. It seemed eerily quiet as we cautiously exited the car, weapons at the ready. I had given Chloe the handgun after a quick explanation of how it worked, and myself held the rifle, pockets once again loaded with spare rounds. Jesse was still favouring the axe, currently resting it on one shoulder as we crept out from the car and moved to the pump, checking if it would still release the petrol that we so desperately needed. Thankfully the mechanism hadn't yet shut off, and the petrol flowed freely. We topped up the tank and the six spare canisters, all relaxing now that we had found what we needed and seemed to be safe. This was short-lived, however, and as we laughed and began to make our way to the empty shop itself to check for supplies, they came. The first of the infected launched itself through the glass door ahead of us, screeching wildly. I yelled to the others to get back to the car and fired a shot, hitting it right in the forehead as it flew through the scattering cloud of broken glass, mouth agape and eyes rolling. It stumbled to a halt, reeling backwards with the force of the shot. I began to run backwards towards the others, who were now by the car, when I heard Chloe scream, and I turned to see her struggling to batter back the arms of an infected.

"Chloe!" I cried, sprinting across, watching in horror as both she and Jesse were attacked. Jesse was hacking his attacker back with the axe, and as I approached I fired into the head and shoulders of the one attacking Chloe, allowing her to gain the upper hand and push it back. More of them were hurtling towards us now, from out behind the building, and the ones that had already fallen were already re-animating.

"Are you alright? You've got to get in the car, okay?" I breathed, clutching at Chloe's waist as I stared into her eyes. I could see the pure terror within them, and I knew that she wasn't up to fighting these things off. We had a better chance of escape if she was out of the way. She looked reluctant to leave me, but then a creature hit me side on, and I pushed her into the car, slamming the door behind her as I fought my way over to Jesse, who was being overrun. If I could just get to him and get us both safely into the car, we could escape. The problem was that they just kept on coming, and not just in the sense that they wouldn't stay down. A steady stream of them were pouring out from somewhere or other, and they were unrelenting, as always. Jesse and I were backed up against the car, trying desperately to fight them off. In the car, I glimpsed Chloe with her head in her hands, shoulders shaking with sobs, and I longed to hold her through them, but there was no way for me and Jesse to get into the car without being bitten. One of us could cover the other, but then there'd be one of us left alone. I was actually starting to consider if I'd rather die from a bite or a bullet when I heard a new sound. It sounded like the demented war-cry of an australian war-lord, and every creature in the immediate vicinity of it stopped completely to look to the source of the sound, including me and Jesse. Over on the opposite side of the forecort, a blonde woman was still yelling and waving her arms crazily, and behind her a group of about five others all wielding sharpened sticks were stood in loose formation, apparently ready to take on the mass of creatures who were just now beginning to lope across to them, grunting and screeching as they went. Jesse looked to me now, eyes wide with confusion.

"Who… who are they? They saved us!" He was right, the calls of the blonde woman had removed the threat of the creatures, but now of course we had to return the favour.

"Come on you bastards, I've wrestled crocodiles bigger than you! You want a piece of the fat power?" We gaped as they all began to charge the group of infected, cutting them down one by one, and suddenly I had an idea.

"Jesse, you see that truck over there?" I asked, pointing out the large truck sitting beside the building. He nodded.

"Right, you think you can hotwire that? We need to do a driveby, pick all of them up in the back of that truck and get the fuck outta here. Got it? If you can hotwire it then take Chloe in the car, I can do the driveby." He nodded again, already running across to get to work on the truck. I quickly opened the nearest door to the car and reached across to grab Chloe's hand.

"Chloe.. Chloe, it's okay, some people saved us, but now we're going to help them, okay? Jesse's just hotwiring that truck for me and then he's going to get in this car to drive you. I'm going to do a driveby and pick up the other group in the back of the truck, then we can all leave, okay? It's going to be fine, I promise." She looked up now, tears staining her slightly flushed cheeks, and she stared back into my eyes for a minute, before becoming distracted by something through the windshield.

"Oh… oh my god…" she whispered, sitting up and leaning further forward now to get a better look.

"What?"

"It's them!" She screamed, pointing desperately to the group who were currently fending off the army of infected. "It's my friends! I have to go help them!" She started trying to push past me, and I stopped her.

"Chloe! I know you want to help them, but you have to let me get on with the plan, if you're out there, in danger, I won't be able to concentrate and someone will end up getting hurt. I can't risk that being you. Just wait here, Jesse will be back any minute and I'll pick your friends up, then when we're somewhere safe you can see them again, okay?" She nodded slowly, sighing in resignation, and just then Jesse ran up behind me, panting heavily and beheading an infected that had stumbled away from the group.

"It's running. Go!" He clambered across into the drivers seat as I squeezed Chloe's hand one last time, before sprinting across to the truck, gun ready in my belt. I was soon in the cab of the truck and revving up the engine before driving towards the group and swinging around to where they were now backed up against a short fence. I leant out of the window that had long since been shattered, and yelled over to them.

"I'M GONNA DRIVE PAST SLOWLY, THE BACK IS OPEN - GET IN!" one of the girls, a taller blonde, nodded and called to the others, who began to ready themselves as I drew nearer. I had no idea if I had got them all as I drove past their group, but suddenly I heard someone banging on the partition from the back, and I sped up now, also hearing the back being closed. In my mirrors, I could see that in fact by some miracle I had picked them all up, and the mass of the infected was now just a milling clump of confused creatures, with no immediate source of prey. I flashed my fog lights at Jesse, who started up the car engine and drove off down the road, with me following close behind. I couldn't quite believe that my plan had worked, but I wasn't arguing as I pushed down on the slightly resistant accelerator pedal and sped away as fast as the beat up old truck could manage. Fifteen minutes of driving at about 80mph later, I figured it was safe enough to stop, and I waved out of the window to Jesse to signal that I was pulling over. Soon, I was dismounting from the cab and Jesse and Chloe were running from the car to meet me. I had just leapt down from the last step when her body collided with mine, her arms pulling me into her as tightly as she could manage.

"Hi." I exhaled into her neck as she held me, reveling in the feeling of her heartbeat jumping through the veins closest to my own. We were both still alive. Thank god.

"I'm sorry I froze up back there, Beca. You gave me a gun, I should have… I mean, I know… I-" I shook my head, cutting her off.

"Don't. Don't apologise, there's nothing wrong with not wanting to kill them, I understand. I mean, I had to 'kill' my own parents for fuck's sake, I know how hard it is, and I get it. You don't ever have to lay a hand on anything for the rest of your life so long as I'm around; I promise I'll protect you."

"Thank you." I could hear the start of a smile in her voice, and allowed my own lips to relax into one too.

"Right, so how about we go say hello to your friends over there?" She pulled back out of my arms now, turning her head to look at the group of people now crowded around Jesse, who was animatedly explaining something or other to them. Suddenly, one of them glanced across at us and spotted Chloe. Her eyes grew wide and immediately filled with tears, and I winced as she shrieked and began sprinting over.

"CHLOE!" The two girls crashed together into a massive hug, both now sobbing almost hysterically.

"Oh my god, Bree, I thought I'd never see you again, I can't believe we found you!" The others were now also rushing over, one of them coming over to me and shaking my hand with an air of deep gratitude.

"I'm Stacie. I just wanted to thank you, for everything really. Saving Chloe… she means a lot to all of us, she's like our sister and we love her. Especially Aubrey, who's been taking her disappearance hard. That and saving our asses back there. I know we stepped in to help you first, but in truth even if that hadn't happened I bet we'd have walked straight into all those infected. Besides, you could have just left us there. So thank you." I was shocked at this sudden influx of information from a stranger, but smiled and shrugged good-naturedly.

"Any time. Thanks for helping in the first place, we were screwed until you showed." Jesse was now at my elbow, tapping my shoulder and gesturing that I talk to him a little way off, over by the cab of the truck.

"Sorry, I'll be right back." I apologised to Stacie, who rejoined her friends as I made my way over to where Jesse now stood fidgeting nervously.

"What's up?"

"Uh, I was just wondering what the plan was from now on.. Like, are we gonna group together with these people?" I glanced over my shoulder to where Chloe was now talking to the group, pointing to me and Jesse every so often. I sighed, and looked back to Jesse, who was still exuding a sense of nervousness.

"I hadn't really thought that far ahead. I guess I'll need to talk to Chloe about it but yeah, being in a bigger group could be helpful. That was part of my original plan, to band together with some other travelers, safety in numbers and all that." He nodded distractedly, eyeing up the two male members of the other group.

"Those guys kinda set me on edge is all. I don't know what it is about them…" I nodded.

"I know what you mean. Well, I'll ask Chloe about them, and we can keep an eye on them. Remember, they only had pointy sticks against the infected; we're way better off for weapons. If I have to pull a gun on them, so be it, at least then they'll know who's in charge around here." Jesse seemed a little more relaxed at that thought, and I decided that it was time to introduce myself to the others. We made our way back over slowly, only to be met halfway by an excited Chloe, who was beaming and waving her arms wildly.

"Beca! Come and say hi to everyone, they can't wait to meet you!"

"This is starting to feel like a weirdly formal dinner party." I laughed as I allowed her to drag me over to the group who were now staring at me intently.

"Chloe, you're dating a midget." chuckled a blonde woman who I recognised to be the one who had been yelling at the infected earlier.

"Nice to meet you too." I smirked, used to the jokes about my height as even my younger brother had been way taller than me for years now.

"Red's been telling us a lot about you. Apparently you're a pretty decent shot?" I opened my mouth to reply, when Jesse cut in.

"Better than decent, she's awesome with a gun. Show 'em Becs." He grinned at me, raising an eyebrow. I blushed, scanning our surroundings for a target.

"Uh, okay… you see that acorn hanging down off that branch over there?" I pointed to the thing in question, and the others murmured an acknowledgement.

"Okay, well keep your eyes on it." I swallowed hard, took aim and steadied my breathing. Once I was satisfied that my hand was completely steady, I took one last breath in and fired just before the exhale. Seconds later, there was a crack that echoed back off the trees towards us where we stood a little way off by the roadside, and the acorn disappeared, crashing down into the undergrowth a moment later. There was a stunned silence.

"Dude…" One of the guys whispered, turning back to look me up and down incredulously.

I just shrugged and blushed again.

"I've just had practice. So, I guess now we need to discuss what happens next…" I trailed off, looking to Chloe for help. Before she had a chance to speak up, the tall blonde that she had been stood close beside since they had first been reunited stepped forward and with a commanding air, spoke.

"Well, seeing as Chloe is our friend and apparently now your girlfriend, I see no other alternative than to join together to make one big group. We've got two vehicles now, and we can split our supplies, although what we have is next to nothing. Still, we can help with defense and scouting for supplies. Do you have any objection to us joining forces?" I shook my head quickly, slightly intimidated by her piercing gaze.

"No, not at all, that's what I had in mind, actually. We just need to agree on where we go next; Jesse, Chloe and I had been aiming East, anywhere away from Atlanta. Our main goal was to find a small farming town somewhere remote. We were thinking that somewhere like that is less likely to be infected. What do you think?" The blonde nodded, a small smile curling at her lips.

"We had the same sort of idea; head away from Atlanta. Your idea to get to a farming village sounds like a good plan, I think we can all get on board with that. Right guys?" The others all nodded in agreement, and Chloe squeezed my hand, evidently pleased with how things were going.

"Great. Well, I say that we should keep moving until dusk, get as many miles between us and that lot back there as possible before settling somewhere for the night. We usually stop somewhere an hour or so before sunset, cook whatever food we're going to eat over a small campfire and then travel as far as we can before the sun actually sets so that we can sleep in relative safety. That way we can have a fire without being in danger the whole night. Chloe, do you still want to be in the car with me and Jesse? I mean, I get it if you don't-"

"No no, I'll stay with you and Jesse in the car, if that's okay Aubrey?" The tall blonde, who I now took to be the famous Aubrey Posen that Chloe had been telling me about, nodded curtly, and announced that she'd drive the truck.

"Aww, come on Aubrey, I totally called dibs on driving!" The australian girl whined, crossing her arms. Aubrey merely rolled her eyes.

"Amy, there's absolutely no way I'd trust you to drive that truck with all of us in it, even if the world wasn't overrun with zombies!" Everyone laughed as Amy huffed, and then we all dispersed and got into our respective vehicles. I pulled out ahead of the truck, leading the way down the otherwise deserted highway, turning up the latest CD that I had been listening to and singing along for the first time in what seemed like forever. Chloe joined in, her hand finding my knee in the rapidly growing shadows as we sped along, finally stopping for dinner and then later to rest. Aubrey and I, apparently the unspoken leaders of the group, reconvened in the back of the truck whilst the others settled down to sleep to organise the watch schedule.

"Your people look pretty exhausted Aubrey, we can handle tonight. We've been sleeping a lot safer than you for a while, it's no trouble." I began, and I noticed her instant relief at the offer.

"Thank you. That would be much appreciated. As for supplies, would it be possible to keep half of what you have in the truck in case we ever get split up for any reason? That way at least we wouldn't be completely screwed." I laughed, and nodded.

"Sure thing. Jesse and I will bring it across in the morning." I turned to leave, and Aubrey quickly grabbed my wrist, stopping me momentarily.

"Beca, I just… thank you for taking care of Chloe. She's my best friend, and I'm so happy that she's okay, and that's all thanks to you. So, thank you. Besides, she seems so much happier now that she's got you, she just came out of a really abusive relationship before all this happened so I'm glad she's found you. But if you hurt her, I swear I won't hesitate to run you over with this very truck, you hear me?" I gulped, and nodded again. Aubrey seemed lovely, but damn, she sure could be terrifying. I hopped down from the back of the truck, closing the doors as quietly as possible behind me and using a bit of fishing wire that had been in the breast pocket of my jacket, tied them shut. Hopefully that would keep them secure in the event of an infected stumbling across us in the night and attacking the truck before any of us in the car could reach the doors. The sun had now disappeared completely on the horizon, leaving nothing but fat, blotchy clouds dragging across the sky as it darkened. The air was cool, and I took a moment to lean against the edge of the truck and inhale deeply, reveling in silence. My surroundings looked dead, and it struck me that it was odd how only now, in the face of such constant danger, I had become so hyper-aware of the state of what lay around me. When driving, I noticed every bird that soared across my windshield, felt every bump in the road shudder through my bones and that in turn reminded me of my incurable fragility as a human being. I didn't even notice her slip towards me until the last of the fading light shot through her hair, the sudden flash of red enough to break my reverie.

"Woah, hey Chlo, sorry I was miles away." I sighed, taking her hand. I could just about make out her half-smile in the darkness.

"I could tell. You coming in?" I nodded, and she tugged at my hand, leading me back to the car where we resumed our regular position squished up in the front seat of the car, Jesse already snoring as he lay stretched out across the back.

"I can't believe we found them, Becs. I keep thinking that surely I'll wake up tomorrow and it will all have been a dream." Chloe whispered from my lap, her hand resting on my cheek lightly.

"Yeah, it's kinda surreal. I mean, what are the odds?" She hummed in agreement.

"Bree likes you, you know." I chuckled.

"Yeah, she told me that she's glad you found me, although she did mention that if I ever hurt you she'd run me over with the truck." She giggled now, and I tightened my arms around her.

"She also mention that you just got out of a … a bad relationship. I just want you to know that you mean a lot to me Chloe and I would never.. I could never treat you like that. I hope you know how special you are to me."

"I know. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about that but I promise, when I'm ready-"

"No don't apologise, it's alright. I don't have to know anything you don't want me to, I understand if you aren't ready to tell me now or ever. There's no point in letting the past rule your life, that's what I think anyway." She didn't reply for a few minutes and I thought she'd fallen asleep. Then, I heard a faint whisper in the darkness.

"I love you." I couldn't see her face but I knew she was crying, and as I reached a hand up to wipe away the tears, I allowed myself to breathe freely for the first time in a long time.

"I love you too."


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning Jesse and I set about sorting through our supplies in order to divide them up, whilst Chloe talked with her friends about what had transpired in the month they'd been apart. I kept catching snippets of her cheerful stories, grinning as my own memories were triggered by her words.

"...She's pretty good at I-spy, yeah, but whenever we played cards I totally beat her and Jesse at every game."

"What is she going on about over there? Anyone would think she was preaching a sermon with the way they're all looking at her." Jesse snorted, handing me a couple of cans. I laughed.

"Who knows. I'm just happy that they're all back together again; it's great seeing Chloe's mind at rest like that." Jesse nodded in agreement, and we turned back to sorting supplies.

"Okay that looks to be about half and half… what do you think, Becs?" I bit at my lip thoughtfully, squinting slightly and tilting my head to the side like a photographer.

"I think so, yeah. Anyway, hopefully it we won't get separated so it won't matter anyway, right?" Jesse smiled and together we packed the supplies back into the two bags, one bag containing half staying in the back seat of our car and the other the back of the truck, guarded by Amy, or as she apparently preferred, 'Fat Amy'.

"So twig bitches like you don't say it behind my back." She winked at me, patting the bag lovingly.

"I won't let anything happen to this, shortstack, I haven't had a decent bite to eat in weeks so you can count on me." She saluted me as I chuckled and backed out of the truck, already searching for Chloe. Most of the others were in the truck now, and I could see that she and Aubrey were the only ones left outside, talking animatedly by the cab. Chloe looked excited about something (nothing new there then), and Aubrey as though she were trying desperately to deny something, but soon after I began watching them they both sighed and broke away from each other, Aubrey climbing into the cab of the truck and Chloe hopping back over to me.

"What was all that about?" her brow furrowed, and she huffed.

"I'm not sure yet, I can't get Aubrey to admit to anything yet. I'll tell you when I know." My eyebrows went up a little.

"Okaaay… Well, I guess we should head out then, huh?" confusion still clouded my tone, but Chloe either didn't notice or simply brushed it off for she just nodded and went to the car where Jesse was already waiting in the back seat. Whatever was going on with Aubrey I figured was none of my business anyway, and according to Chloe I'd find out soon enough. I had no reason to doubt Chloe's weaseling tactics when it came to extracting information, having been subject to them myself far too many times. And so, with one of the sighs that seemed to frequent everyone's lips nowadays I retreated to the car, watching out of the corner of my eye as one of the guys, Donald, slid the doors of the truck closed with a wave. They seemed like a nice bunch of people, but I intended to ask Chloe for a bit more detail on this part of the journey. Prior to meeting them unexpectedly, I hadn't wanted to pry too much in what came to be a touchy subject for her, as leaving the place where her friends had been was hard on her, and yesterday she had been too overwhelmed and exhausted to answer even the simplest of questions coherently, so I had yet to learn much about her friends. All I knew so far was that the girls had all been in an acapella group together in college, and the boys were part of the rival group. Hopefully, today would prove fruitful in terms of information concerning the others.

Twenty minutes later and I was completely clued in, thanks to Chloe, the perpetually eager puppy-dog of a girl who was close to pretty much everyone, or so it seemed.

"Well, Aubrey is my best friend, as you know, and we were rooming together at Barden. As we're seniors, this year we were the co-captains of the Bellas, that acapella group I mentioned. She's amazing, she's so lovely, although she can come across as bossy and cold when she gets too nervous about things. See, her dad was always very demanding of her and it took its toll. But once you get to know her I guarantee you'll love her! Then there's Stacie, the tall brunette and aca-sex goddess. And I do mean that in a literal sense, she's very… active? Yeah. She's sweet though, she's been really great helping Bree out whilst I've been gone. She's a Bella newbie this year, along with the rest of the girls, but she's confident so we've all got to know her pretty quickly. Then there's Fat Amy, who you already know. There's not much else I can say about her except take everything she says with a pinch of salt… Lily. She's the quiet one, quiet but deadly we all say. Don't underestimate her. As for Donald and Bumper, they're… well, they're not bad guys. Donald is nice, Bumper has always been a bit of a dick but apparently since this all began he hasn't been too bad, just irritating." Jesse had sat forward at this, evidently still intrigued by the other guys.

"I just thought something seemed a bit off about them…" he mused, and Chloe shrugged.

"I don't really know either of them well enough to judge on that really."

"Didn't you mention two other girls before?" I asked, and Chloe froze, her muscles visibly tensing.

"I.. uh, yeah. Denise and Ashley. They… they didn't.. t-they-" I realised that she was choking back a sob and reached out an arm to comfort her.

"Hey, hey ssh it's okay. I'm sorry, you don't have to talk about it." I understood that Chloe was sensitive. She hadn't yet been able to take on any of the infected, and whenever Jesse and I discussed anything related to it she would become visibly saddened. She had nearly cried when I had first explained what had happened to our parents. She was definitely fragile and beautifully so, like a flower in the midst of a warzone, somehow untainted by the bloodshed around her. I knew, therefore, that it was my job to keep protecting her, at least until she was ready to face up to her emotions and get tough. Not that I particularly wanted that of her; I couldn't imagine a cold-hearted Chloe, not when everything about her screamed warmth and affection. No, I was perfectly content to shield her for all eternity, if that was how it had to be. I definitely couldn't let anything hurt her, not when I was slowly starting to realise that she was the best thing that had ever happened to me.

The day passed slowly and silently, Jesse complaining of a headache early on that forced me to turn off my music and continue on in stifling quiet. Chloe had been subdued ever since our conversation that morning, and I couldn't find the words to lift her up again. I tried once or twice to coax her into a game of I-spy, but she wasn't in the mood to oblige.

"Sorry Beca, I just don't feel up to it right now." I sighed, plastering as much of a smile as I could muster across my face.

"It's okay, I'm just trying to cheer you up. Seeing you down is kinda weird, it's like seeing the sun reach up and switch itself off in the middle of the day." She blinked at me, and I blushed a little.

"Jeez, listen to me, getting all poetic. You're poisoning me with your English Major thing." This elicited a small smile, and I felt instantly relieved to see it. There was something about seeing that same sun come out from behind the dark clouds again that always lifted my heart, as if I had been afraid that for some reason I would never lay eyes upon it again.

Finally, as the night began to draw in with frightening pace, we pulled over to eat. The truck had been tailing us all day, and so I had become accustomed to its heavy whirring and rumbling, but as Chloe, Jesse and I got out to greet the others, I realised that it was dangerously loud. Aubrey finally shut off the engine and clambered out of the cab, dropping to the floor with a groan as the others began to shuffle out from the back.

"Next time someone is keeping me company in there, that was hell." She muttered, rubbing her neck, and Stacie quickly bounded to her side, smiling slyly.

"I might as well take one for the team. Need a hand?" with a slow, deliberate wink, she gently removed Aubrey's hands and began massaging her neck, causing the blonde to sigh deeply and relax into the motions.

"Woah, get a room." Bumper snorted, brushing past roughly. Stacie rolled her eyes at this and Aubrey scowled at his back. I glanced at Chloe, who shrugged a little as if to say 'I told you so."

We began to sort out what we'd be eating that night, Jesse, Aubrey and I discovering that we hardly had enough to feed the group for the next few days, when suddenly there came that jarring, gut-wrenching screeching sound from off in the distance. Everyone froze instantly, what mild chatter there had been sinking into silence as we stood, ears pricked in the gloom.

"Where did that come from?" Jesse asked, moving to stand by my side. I looped my arm around Chloe's waist and pulled her close into my other side, glancing at her anxiously.

"I… I'm not sure." We waited for another agonising moment, and then it rang out again, apparently much closer than before. I decided to take action.

"Right, get back in the vehicles everyone, now. We have to get out of here." I hissed, already walking back round to the car with Chloe and Jesse close behind. Aubrey stared after me for a moment, brow furrowing, until Stacie took her hand and led her to the cab of the truck and helping her in. The others were all soon safely in the back of the truck, and when we were ready we both started up our engines and pulled away, picking up speed quickly.

"That was too close." I breathed, my heart still racing even though we hadn't had any direct confrontation with the infected. It was enough that they had nearly set upon us whilst we were completely unaware that struck me cold. Chloe was slightly pale in the seat beside me, her hand gripping my knee with a fierce intensity that only such a touch could convey.

"It's okay. We're okay." I tried to reassure her, although I still couldn't seem to shake the fear from my voice. What was it that still set me on edge? Behind us, I could still hear the roar of the truck's engine, and then it dawned on me.

"Oh. Oh god. It's the truck."

"What? What are you talking about?" Jesse suddenly leant forward in his seat, and Chloe turned to face me, eyes wide.

"The truck, we've become so used to the engine noise but just listen; it's so loud it must be drawing in every infected within a 30 mile radius, especially as we're the only moving vehicles on these roads. I couldn't put my finger on what was freaking me out, but now I know, it's the truck. As soon as we stop, whatever's tailing us will catch up and attack. So stopping with the truck is like asking for an attack."

"Oh my god." Chloe murmured, her face a few shades paler than before, her hands trembling.

"What are we going to do?" Jesse spoke with a sense of desperation that made me want to cry, I guess because it reminded me of how much was at stake, and how much rested on me.

"Uh… I… I-" I was interrupted by a body smashing into the side of the car, causing it to swerve dramatically. Cursing, I struggled to bring it back under control, Chloe's shrieks shooting right through my head and making it harder to breathe. Once we were driving in a straight line again, I glanced in my rearview mirror and was horrified to see that the truck was no longer behind us.

"Shit." I gasped, slamming on the brakes and doing a U turn as fast as I could manage. We sped back to where I could soon make out the truck stopped in the middle of the road, a couple of infected launching themselves at the sides as well as the windows of the cab. One of them was latched onto the windscreen wipers and refusing to budge from the windshield, which I guessed was why they had been forced to stop. More of the infected were already loping out from the trees alongside the road to join in, and I could feel myself beginning to panic. Forcing my hands to remain steady, I took out the handgun and loaded it, checking the rounds and making sure that I had spare mags in each available pocket. I handed Jesse the shotgun and spare rounds, and Chloe took a hammer, although I knew she wouldn't use it.

"Okay, here's the plan. Jesse, you take out those infected on the sides, I'll take out the ones on the cab. Chloe, stay here and guard our half of the stuff. Try to stay in the car, okay?" She looked reluctant at this.

"Beca, I know I'm averse to fighting any of these… things, but I hate feeling so useless! I'm not some damsel in distress."

"I know, but you are being helpful by staying here and watching our backs, I promise." She sighed an nodded in resignation as Jesse and I slowly got out from the car, moving so that the hood was at our backs. Then, we opened fire on the infected, quickly clearing those attacking the vehicle.

"Cover me!" I yelled, sprinting across to the cab and hoisting myself up so that I could reach the dangling leg of the infected that had been on the windshield, quickly shooting it a second time straight through the forehead, and throwing its body to the side. I felt a shot brush past me and looked over my shoulder to see another falling behind me that Jesse had just taken down. I grinned at him as I ran back across, and signaling for Aubrey to follow, we got back in the car and started driving again. We drove all night, not daring to stop until finally dawn broke, and I pulled over into a field just off the main highway. Leaving Jesse and a sleeping Chloe in the car, I ran across to the cab and got in before the others could leave.

"What's going on?" Aubrey began, but I just moved to the partition and banged a fist on it, alerting the others in the back.

"Guys, don't get out until we tell you too, okay?" I heard Amy grumbling something in response and sighed, turning back to Aubrey and Stacie, who were looking at me with terror in their eyes.

"Seriously Beca, what's happening?"

"The truck. It's loud and it's drawing in the infected from everywhere we pass. Basically as soon as we stop we're gonna get attacked." Aubrey dropped her head into her hands at this, and Stacie placed a hand on her back in between her shoulderblades, making soothing noises.

"Bree, it's going to be okay. Beca will sort it out." I bit my lip. All these people were counting on me, and I hadn't the faintest idea what I was doing. I hadn't from the start, and come to think of it, it did seem utterly ridiculous that I, the tiny college-dropout wannabe DJ was in charge of this whole group of people. Jesse was a med student for christ's sake, Chloe an English Major and apparently Aubrey was studying Law; so what was I doing leading this lot? They were all on their way to owning little scrolls of paper that they could later frame to prove that they were all way smarter than me, and what did I have to that effect? Well, right now I guess I could shoot well, that was about it. In fairness to myself we hadn't done so badly up until now, but this truck dilemma… I didn't know where to begin with sorting it out. Aubrey and Stacie were staring at me expectantly now, and through the blood-spattered glass of the windshield I could also see Chloe and Jesse's eyes fixed on me, as if the whole world had stopped to stare at me as I tried desperately to set my thoughts into motion. I just needed one little idea to save us all, but I was out of ideas and the weight of their gazes, their hopes and their breathing was forcing tears up into my eyes, which I blinked back furiously.

"Beca?" Aubrey asked in a quiet voice, leaning across Stacie slightly to peer into my face. I shook my head, exhaling loudly.

"I'm so sorry Aubrey but I really don't know what to do." I could feel it coming up again, the horrible wave of pain and terror that I couldn't let them see. With a muttered apology, I turned in the seat and leapt out of the cab, not bothering with the stairs and landing hard on the tarmac in a way that grazed my knees and the palms of my hands. I didn't notice it at the time, however, and as I sprinted off into the trees that bordered the road, I hear Aubrey and Stacie shout after me, soon followed by Jesse's hushed tones and the quiet sound of Chloe crying, which only made my tears fall faster. I ran until those sounds were gone, and then I curled up against the half-hollowed out trunk of a tree and clutching the handgun with my finger grazing the trigger, I collapsed in on myself and let the emotions take hold of me.


	9. Chapter 9

"It's been nearly fifteen minutes, do you think we should go after her? What if she's in trouble? Or lost?" Chloe was fretting, chatting my ear off as I paced up and down grimacing at the line of trees ahead of me. My sister had always been closed off, particularly when it came to negative emotions, and I knew that as always, we simply had to give her space. That being said, I was just as worried as Chloe, if not more.

"If she was in danger you know she's have used her gun, and we'd have heard the shots. As for her being lost, if she was there'd be no sense in us piling in there after her and getting lost too. We're better off just waiting out here for her; she'll come out when she's ready." Chloe sighed and nodded, her tears having dried up a while ago, leaving her eyes red and slightly puffy.

"I just don't understand why she has to run off like that. I know you told me that she has issues with exposing her emotions, not wanting to look weak and all that but… I just wish I could comfort her like she does me. Am I not good enough for her?" I glanced across at her again and saw the true pain etched across her face, and reached over to grip her shoulder.

"Chloe, look at me." Her startling blue eyes fixed on mine, nervous.

"You are the best thing that's ever happened to Beca, hands down. She loves you, we both know that, and you are the only thing keeping her sane right now I can guarantee. You just need to give her time to grow into that. She's never really had a relationship like this with anyone, not even me or our parents, so it will take some time, but she'll get there, for you. Okay?" She nodded again, looking relieved, and I dropped my hand, smiling. I was genuinely extremely happy for the two girls, especially as from the outside I had been able to see the positive impact that Chloe had had on Beca. Beca was a softer person now, more caring than before. She had never been cold-hearted or anything but she had never been like Chloe either, and now she was somewhere in between, the perfect balance and the happiest I had ever seen her. Still, the minutes were steadily creeping by, and I was getting more and more agitated as we waited to see her bashful brown eyes emerging from the darkness, blinking in the dwindling daylight. Beside us, the others remained in the truck, Aubrey and Stacie visibly locked in some deep discussion in the cab, and the occasional bouts of raucous laughter and shrieks from the back of the truck indicating that the others were probably playing some moronic game. Thankfully, no infected had ambushed us at this interval, although I was still alert, holding the shotgun in such a way that indicated I was ready to use it. Chloe, too, still held the hammer, although lightly, as though she was loathe to do so. The head of it lay on the ground with the handle half-leant against her leg, the very end of it gently grasped in her delicate pianist's fingers. I understood now why Beca had always been so insistent on protecting her, on treating her like a fragile princess made of glass; because that's exactly what she was. She was like a child encapsulated within a grown-up body; she was beautiful and careful and stunningly innocent, and she couldn't bear to kill.

"Do you play the piano?" I asked, the words leaping from my throat as if they had been vying for their freedom ever since I had glanced at her hands. She looked at me with confusion.

"Only a little, but I stopped after my mother-" She was cut off by the sound of a gunshot echoing across the trees.

"BECA!" She screamed, dropping the hammer to the ground and sprinting off in the direction of the sound. I set off after her, motioning to Aubrey to stay put in the truck.

"Chloe, wait, come back!" I shouted, struggling to keep up with her desperate pace.

"BECA!" She kept screaming her name, crashing through the bushes frantically. And then, of course, they heard her and one of the infected came careering out from behind a dead tree, screeching and flailing as it made a grab for her. She leapt to the side, holding back another scream as I put a bullet in its head, and then kept on running. I had no choice but to follow her at this point. A second gunshot from Beca's gun rang out from across to our left, and we veered off towards it, Chloe picking up speed as we got closer. Finally, we crashed through into a clearing where we saw Beca stood with her back to a wide tree trunk, shooting back another of the infected. Two bodies lay twitching on either side of her, already starting to reanimate. Her eyes were bloodshot and wild, and she swung round to face us, nearly shooting but letting the gun drop just in time as Chloe rushed forward.

"Ohmygod Beca are you okay?" She sobbed, collapsing into her arms, and Beca began murmuring into her ear. I picked my way over quickly.

"Guys, we have to get back to the car, now." Beca obviously picked up on the urgency in my voice and stooped to grab her gun again, hastily reloading it before nodding to me and leading the charge back towards the road. Chloe and I were breathing quite heavily now, and my arms were starting to burn slightly with the unusual weight of the shotgun pushing into them. We kept moving forward though, and soon we could see the light beginning to change and filter through the trees as we reached the edge. I was beginning to feel relief wash over me, but as we burst through the undergrowth and onto the tarmac of the road, dread took over, dripping down my spine as I looked upon the dozen or so infected that were crawling all over the truck.

"Jesus." Beca whispered, as more sidled out from the trees and joined the others, banging on the sides and screeching. Aubrey and Stacie were sat huddled together in the cab, evidently distressed. We had boarded up the broken window on the driver's side on our first night with the truck using a spare sheet of slightly rusted metal that we had found in the back, but even so it was a weak spot, and several of the infected were already targeting it, trying to dent it and pry it up.

"We have to do something Beca!" I grunted, putting the shotgun to my shoulder. She nodded grimly, and glanced over to the car, which was similarly surrounded by a few of the infected.

"Chloe…" She began, obviously concerned that Chloe wasn't going to be able to find safety there whilst we took on this attack, but to our surprise, the redhead looked to us both with her eyes blazing, jaw set firmly, and spoke three determined words.

"Let's do this." Just at that moment, one of the infected smashed the other window on the passenger side of the truck and began reaching in, screeching manically. At this, Chloe growled and charged forward, running to where she had dropped the hammer and hefting it onto her shoulder. Beca and I followed her, stunned at her sudden change in demeanor. We watched on as she rushed over to the infected that was grabbing at her friends and yelling wildly, swung the hammer at its head, knocking it clean off its shoulders. She then kicked its headless body away from her, and jumped down after it, moving to those scratching at the sides of the truck itself. Beca and I then launched into action, taking out as many of the infected as we could, clearing a path to the car so that we could make a swift getaway before they reanimated.

Watching Chloe fight was like a dream, only in that it was so surreal, not in the sense that I had ever wanted to see it. In fact, it was more like a nightmare, because I felt trapped and every time she glanced back at me with those burning eyes, her face spattered with gore, I felt my heart lurch in an unpleasant way, as if it were trying to detach itself.

"Beca, focus." Jesse chided, nudging me gently in the ribs as he turned to shoot another of the infected back. I knew now was not the time to be freezing up like this, but I couldn't bear it. Seeing her like this, it was terrifying. The last of the evening light was now shining through what could be termed her 'mane' of violently red hair, and yeah, if I could compare her to any entity on this earth in that moment, it would have been the fierce lioness taking down her prey. She moved with determination and precision, and I could tell from her grimace that she was aware of her actions. And yet she showed no signs of slowing, no sign of relenting until all of the infected lay twitching on the floor and Jesse and I were hauling her back to the car. Halfway there she shuddered and went limp in my arms, so I threw her up across my shoulder and jogged her back to the car as fast as I could manage. Aubrey had already started up the truck and as Jesse dove into the back seat, I bundled Chloe into the passenger side and then ran to get into the driver's seat. Soon we were driving. Fast.

"Jesse, buckle her in, I didn't have time." The request came out flat, emotionless, as I concentrated on driving. The steady rumble of the truck behind me was slowly getting to me, and I cursed under my breath, pushing down on the accelerator.

"Beca, slow down, we're going to leave the truck behind." Jesse's words were muffled and dead, and I couldn't really understand them anyway, not over the sound of my breath in my ears. I just focused on the road ahead and on driving away from that noise. I was no longer registering the origin of it, but I knew I had to get away. I had to get us all away from it. The needle on the speedometer was creeping up and up, and Jesse was still saying something desperately in my ear, but I couldn't hear him. I just watched the needle climb, knowing that as it rose, the sound decreased. Suddenly, a hand grabbed mine and jerked the steering wheel, causing the car to spin off to the side. I cried out and struggled to regain control as we moved into the other lane and skidded to a halt on the grass verge beside it. Someone was talking again, I didn't even know who now, and more hands shook my shoulder, tapped at my face. I wanted to reach up and swat them away, but I couldn't find the strength to move. Finally, I noticed little black spots dancing across my eyes and tried to blink them away, but the more I did that the more they danced and swam and grew and then everything was black and I wasn't conscious anymore.

I awoke to the same voices hovering somewhere above me, Jesse and Chloe's, and a cool breeze slipping across my face and bare arms. As I clawed my way back into consciousness I realised that I was lying flat on the tarmac, and as my eyelids fluttered and opened I was met with a pair of watery blue eyes and a sad smile.

"Heya." Chloe whispered, and her hand reached over and intertwined with mine. I struggled to sit up, returning her faint smile as much as I could.

"Hi." I groaned, lifting my spare hand to my head, which was pounding and aching with every movement I made.

"Uh, what's going on?" I asked, noticing what appeared to be a ring of fire surrounding us. Chloe shrugged.

"We couldn't keep going all night again, not in that state, and you had passed out already so we figured we'd stop and set up a solid defense. Are you okay?" I nodded, sitting up further and pulling the redhead into a firm embrace.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened in the car Chloe, but I put you in danger and I'm so sorry." I could feel her breath hitch against my neck.

"It's okay Beca, it's not your fault. I'm just so glad you're okay." I could feel the warmth of tears against my skin now, both mine and hers, and for the first time I realised that I could let her see me cry. And so I let it break over me again, the pain and the terror, and she held me through it. When it was over, and I was silent, she lifted my face to hers and kissed me with such sweetness that I thought I must surely be dying because isn't this what heaven must feel like?

"Thank you for letting me be here for you Beca. It's going to be okay. I love you." It sounded like merely a few statements but really I could hear the sincerity behind each one and I smiled a genuine smile. I didn't know how much time had passed since I had been in that state but I didn't really care either. Time was just a concept that humans created anyway, it only existed in our minds. The only time-keeper we had and needed now was the sun. The only thing we had to pace ourselves by was the light, our stomachs and the amount of gas left in each of our vehicles. Other than that, we were basically free, which was actually a terrifying concept when it exists so entirely around you. I wasn't going to pretend like I particularly missed some of the crippling rules that had governed our world but fuck, I was starting to miss the boring little things that made up that old era. Taking out the trash. Making the bed. Even boiling the kettle. What I wouldn't have given for a cup of tea right then - it was a very small list. Still, the people around me all smiled at me as I got to my feet and waved shyly at them, and I realised that I could probably manage in this new world, so long as I kept these people close; close to me and close to the heart that I was finally starting to believe I had.


	10. Chapter 10

Our main problem was the truck. Second to that came the matter of supplies.

"Wait so you're saying we only have enough for three more days?" Donald asked, looking horrified. Aubrey and I had called a meeting that morning to tackle these two issues, and so far they weren't going down well.

"Basically." I sighed.

"Well what are you gonna do about it then?" Bumper grumbled, folding his arms. Aubrey merely raised an eyebrow.

"Beca seems to think that our only option is to keep looking for a town, and I'm inclined to agree. Basically we're going to keep driving, just in shifts, no more stopping. Our only hope is to find a town that has survived." Aubrey said in an authorative tone, and I nodded my head beside her to back her up. Everyone else looked somewhere between confused and scared, but they all agreed to the idea, and soon we were sorting out driving shifts.

"Basically we just need to switch between two or three people. Chloe, Jesse and I will switch between us in the car throughout the day and night, and Aubrey, Stacie and Donald can all sit up in the cab and do the same." Thankfully, Donald had been voted the third driver over Bumper and Fat Amy, neither of whom I trusted with such a task, although both for different reasons. Bumper was a douchebag, nothing more to it, and therefore more likely to cause some kind of accident than anything else, and Amy… well, Amy was enthusiastic and erratic in her behavior, and much as I liked her I didn't want her in charge of a large speeding vehicle containing other people either. We set off quickly after that, not wanting to linger for any longer than necessary in any one place, particularly as we had already been there a few hours. We'd only been met with a few of the infected in that time, and between us we'd been able to draw them away from our little 'camp' and trap them. Still, that wouldn't work forever, and we didn't have long to find a town. Three days in fact. Funny how time is so fluid that even though none of us were counting the minutes of the hours anymore, we were still counting the meals we had left on our fingers as though there were anything we could do about how few we were left showing. We drove practically non-stop for two days, only stopping once to refuel both vehicles and a few more times beside that for bathroom breaks. Jesse took to keeping watch out of the sunroof for hours on end, scouting for any signs of a town as Chloe and I switched over between the two front seats. It was a strange routine that we fell into blankly, hardly noticing our resignation to the end until we realised that as the sun set on the third day, we were sharing around our last can of tuna in the car.

"I guess that's it then." Chloe sighed glumly, tipping her head back to stare up at the ceiling.

"Yup." I replied, still driving.

"We're sure to find somewhere soon though, right?" Jesse mumbled hopefully.

Three more days later and the answer to that was still no. By then, we were all living off acorns and pretty pink clover plants that we found on the roadside, and what few squirrels Jesse and I had managed to shoot. We stopped our headlong rush East for these gathering sessions, and were attacked every time. As the days passed we got weaker however, and these attacks became more and more difficult to defend against. Hope was beginning to drain from everyone's eyes, and when I kissed Chloe goodnight it was never quite so sweet as it had been. Perhaps if I had died back then, that would have been enough. I could have died happy at least. These thoughts kept me awake even when I was meant to be sleeping. Surely this was it for us after all.

And then, somehow, we were saved.

"BECA! Over there - I see buildings!" Jesse shouted down to me from the sunroof, and I could tell that he was waving frantically to the truck behind us.

"Are you serious?" Chloe sat up in her seat, gripping the headrest to twist her body up to face Jesse.

"Yeah!" He dropped back into the back seat, grinning like a maniac.

"Just a little farther down the road, it looks like a village of some sort."

"Did you see any people?" I asked, my suspicion flaring.

"No, but we have to pull over Becs, we have to check it out." I sighed. He was right. So, as the building he was talking about, a small convenience store, came into view, I turned off and pulled up on what appeared to be a normal street in a normal little town.

"I can't believe we made it!" Jesse was saying, a few tears making their way down his excited face. Chloe too was expressing her relief, and I saw the others getting out of the van and hugging each other as though we had literally reached the end of our entire journey. I knew differently though.

"Jesse, I still want you on the shotgun, Chloe, take the hammer. I'm not taking any chances, I don't care how hungry and tired we all are, we're not losing any sense to that." They seemed to sober slightly at my tone, and soon we were all standing together outside the shop, Jesse, Chloe and I at the front of the group holding our weapons loosely. It occurred to me that I hadn't ever spoken to Chloe about that day she had attacked the infected alongside us, but I brushed it off, realising that would have to wait a little longer. We all watched as Jesse reached forward to grip the door handle and slowly turn it, eliciting a small 'clunk' as he did so.

"Guess they forgot to lock up." Stacie whispered hopefully. Either that or they didn't have time, I thought to myself, tightening my grip on the handgun. The door creaked painfully as Jesse pushed it open, and we followed in single file tight on each other's heels as he entered cautiously. It was gloomy in the shop as the only source of light was through the grubby windows, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust enough to make out the rows of shelves that lined the shop.

"Okay… it looks clear. You lot gather as much shit as you can carry and take it to the truck and the boot of the car. Chloe and I will scout out the rest of the shop, okay?" I hissed, and everyone muttered their acknowledgements, already beginning to go about their tasks.

"What about me?" Jesse whispered, brow furrowed.

"Can you watch their backs on the run? I need someone with a weapon with the main bulk of the group. Chloe can watch my back, right?" I directed this last part to my girlfriend who stood at my elbow, and she nodded profusely.

"Okay." Jesse sighed, relenting. I could tell that he was confused by my decision to take Chloe instead of him, but he wasn't one to argue. I motioned for Chloe to follow and began to make my way over to the back of the shop, where another door stood slightly ajar. She was so close behind me that I could feel her breath on the back of my neck, but I didn't time to consider how that made me feel, how it brought a wave of heat to my cheeks and a tingling to the pit of my stomach. It seemed odd to me in that moment, where everything seemed almost normal that Chloe and I had never actually had time to do typical relationship stuff. Like, sure, we kissed plenty, and we cuddled every night, we talked all day, played childish games, laughed, sang, held hands and heck we even killed infected together, but I guess what I realised we were missing was dates; alone time. Even sex. We hadn't even considered anything of that nature since we were together, and now it was on my mind I realised how insane that was, mostly because Chloe was beautiful and she was also hot as fuck and god, the more I thought about it the more I realised I really, really wanted her. Beyond that door we found a pretty bare supply closet, containing nothing but a dirty looking mop and bucket and some cleaning supplies. I bit my lip. Control yourself Mitchell.

"Are you okay, Beca? You've gone kinda red." I turned to face her, realising that my face was indeed burning.

"Yeah, it's nothing." She was looking at me with confusion, but was that all? There seemed to be something more in her eyes, and I noticed it spark a little as I leant forward and pulled her into a deep kiss. Before I could move my hands to where they were aching to be however, we were interrupted by a shout from the shop, and the sound of scuffling feet. We jumped apart and grabbed our various weapons, running back into the main shop area.

"What's going on?" I gasped, staring at Jesse and Donald who were now struggling to restrain an elderly man, who was batting at them with a stick.

"Get your hands off me! This is my store you son of a bitch, let. me. GO!" He managed to clock Bumper in the head with the stick at this point, and he yelled angrily.

"Dude what the fuck?! I'm not even holding you!" He growled, rubbing at his head as we all tried to contain our laughter. I walked over to them now, setting my face into a more sombre expression.

"Okay, so we need to know what the state of this town is sir." The man huffed.

"I ain't sayin' nothing until these bastards let me go." I sighed, and nodded to Jesse that they could release him. He pushed away from them grumpily, brushing off his clothes which were so hole-ridden and faded that I thought it hardly mattered if they were a little creased following the encounter.

"This town," he began curtly, "is fine. I don't know where y'all are from, but you may want to consider learnin' yourself some manners. If you want somethin' from me that's no way t' go about it."

"I'm sorry, sir, we've just come from a rough situation, we can't afford to take any chances. So you're saying that you've had no infections here?"

"Infections? Of what, flu?" I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

"No, the virus, you know, RA7?" He just shook his head.

"Can't say I've heard of it. Anyhow, everyone here is fine, and we don't need your kind around here messin' that up for us so do yourselves a favour and move along, huh?" He glared at me, and I decided that it was time to leave before he noticed his missing stock.

"Okay sir, well thanks for your time, and sorry again for intruding."

"Darn right." He muttered, turning away and hobbling off towards the till.

"Gogogo!" I hissed, hustling the others out of the door as fast as I could. We emerged into the light blinking and grinning.

"Well he was as mad as a banana bender taking on a boomer!" Fat Amy exclaimed cheerfully, and we all stared at her in confusion. She merely shrugged and smiled.

"Okay then. If you're saying what I think you are though, then you're right about him being completely insane; I don't think he even knows what day it is." I sighed.

"Well, do you?" Aubrey cut in, raising an eyebrow challengingly. That shut me up.

"She's got you there, Bilbo." Bumper laughed, and I glared at him. He'd been the one person who consistently got at me about my height, even though I wasn't that much shorter than everyone else anyway, and it was really starting to piss me off.

"Fuck off, Bumper." I spat, before turning back to the others. I really didn't know how much more of him I could stand.

"Right," I began, trying to regain control of the chattering group, "I say we split up and search the rest of the town, try to figure out what the situation is."

"That's a good idea." Jesse smiled at me encouragingly, and Lily added something unintelligable, to which we all just smiled and nodded awkwardly.

"So I think three teams is probably best. Chloe, Jesse and I will be the team leaders as we all have weapons and experience. Any objections?" Bumper looked as though he wanted to argue, but both Aubrey and Amy were glaring at him with such malice that he kept his mouth shut.

"Okay, so Chloe, you go with Aubrey, Stacie. Jesse, you can take Donald, and Amy, and I'll go with Bumper and Lily."

Everyone shuffled into their teams, Chloe beaming at Aubrey and Stacie as she practically skipped over to them.

"Okay let's head out then. Jesse, take that street to the left. Chloe, go round the other side of the shop and go right from there; I'll take this way." I nodded to the road straight ahead of us. The others nodded and set off, still whispering excitedly. I watched on happily as Chloe and Aubrey linked arms, laughing away at something that Stacie had said, before turning back to Bumper, who was glaring at me, and Lily who was looking slightly mortified as usual.

"Okay let's do this." I sighed, and we began trudging up the road. I was taking care to avoid stepping on the trash that littered the street, but Bumper was making as much noise as possible, or so it seemed. I cringed as he stomped on a half-empty crisp packet.

"Bumper, would you mind walking on the road instead of the garbage? We kinda need to stay quiet." He muttered something that was probably highly offensive, but after that he did seem to take a little more care of where he placed his feet.

"I don't see anything. Do you really think that this place has survived?" He whispered after a few minutes.

"No, I don't, and that's why we're checking it out." I was beginning to feel like I was being watched.

"Hey, what's that over there?!" Bumper hissed, suddenly grabbing my arm. I spun round to face the direction in which he was pointing, just in time to see a shadow flashing across a window inside one of the houses.

"Cover me." I whispered, beginning to creep forward. It was pretty likely that this was going to be one of the infected, and if it was then I didn't want to bring my presence to its attention. I crouched down underneath the windowsill as Bumper and Lily stood just off to my left, and slowly peered over the sill. I was met with a pair of started green eyes, the owner apparently as shocked as I was. We both screamed and fell backwards, but I quickly leapt up and ran back to the window. A young girl sat inside a little way away from the pane, staring up at me. She looked to be about fifteen, with jet black hair and a slightly grubby face.

"Hi, it's okay I'm on your side. Can you come out and talk to me and my friend for a second?" I asked, putting on a smile. She shook her head rapidly.

"No, my mom says I can't go outside without dad." She looked as if she was about to burst into tears. I adopted another tactic.

"Okay, well can we come in? We just need to find out a few things, we're lost you see, and we don't have anything to eat." She glanced around nervously, before getting up and walking in the direction of the door.

"Lily, keep watch out here." I waved to Bumper, and we moved to the doorstep. The door opened moments later, after the sound of several heavy bolts being drawn back and locks undone echoed out. I beamed down at the girl as she peered out from behind the door, and slowly stepped back to let us enter. We stopped just inside the door, and Bumper held it just slightly ajar behind us.

"Okay, so we need to know if there are any infected in this town." I began, bending down slightly to be at the same height as the girl. She was trembling slightly.

"I'm sorry, I-" She was cut off by a large man carrying a double-barreled shotgun looming out from a door to her left, and aiming straight as me. I raised my hands and stood back up to my full height.

"Nice catch, Emilia. The sergeant sure will be pleased with us." He had a deep, gravelly voice, and when he spoke I could see that he had several missing teeth.

"Uh, there's got to be some sort of mistake here sir, we're just passing through." Bumper said, adjusting his grip on the door. The man simply leered and shoved the girl behind him roughly.

"No mistake. You're coming with us."

We'd been shuffling through empty streets for what felt like hours now, and I was beginning to get bored with it. Not to mention the hunger that was clawing at my stomach like an enraged grizzly bear. Still, this had been the perfect opportunity to get the scoop on what was going on between Aubrey and Stacie. The moment we'd been reunited, I knew that something had changed between them, but up until now, I hadn't been exactly sure what that was. Now, I knew; they were so in love with each other! The very notion made me want to squeal like a little girl and jump up and down, but I knew I had to be subtle about it if I wanted to get them to admit to anything. I'd tried to get Aubrey to talk to me about it a week or so ago, but, to my dismay, she had remained tight-lipped throughout.

"So, how have you two been holding up in the truck then?" I started, my tone sickly sweet and innocent. Aubrey raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, good I guess?" I chuckled.

"I was just asking. You know, you two seem awfully close now. Is there something you want to, you know, tell me? Possibly?" I giggled as Aubrey's eyes went wide and Stacie's face split into a grin.

"FINE! Chloe, you win. Stacie and I… we're, um…" Aubrey trailed off.

"Dating. We're dating." Stacie laughed, suddenly pulling the blonde into a dazzling kiss. Only then did I allow myself to squeal and leap around.

"YES! I knew it!" Aubrey tried her hardest to scowl at me, but couldn't help smiling along at my antics.

"Whatever. You're so childish, Chlo." I stuck my tongue out at her.

"You love it. Okay, so serious business now, we need to see if we can find anything useful like food and make sure there are no infected around." The others nodded, and we began walking with more purpose. I thought I heard something like a shout off to my left in the distance, but Aubrey and Stacie didn't react and so I figured it was nothing.

"Jesse, I'm all for making sure this place is safe, but seriously I think I saw a diner back there, can we go make some chips or something? I'm seriously hungry." Amy was moaning, just like she had been the whole time we'd been searching the town. So far we'd found nothing; no infected, no people, and no food, much to our dismay. I was trying to remain impassive to that fact, although I had to admit that at the mere mention of food I was starting to feel my resolve crumble.

"Amy's right, we've found nothing so far, it wouldn't hurt to break into one of these shops and get something to eat, we won't be fit to defend ourselves otherwise." Donald added. I sighed, finally giving in.

"Okay, okay. We'll head back to the diner." Amy thrust her fist into the air, cheering quietly.

"I'll lead the way, shall I?" She grinned, beginning to walk briskly back the way we had just come.

"Oh, now you move quickly." I grumbled, shouldering the rifle and speeding up to catch up with her, Donald doing the same.

"I know what I want." was her reply. Soon, we were standing outside the diner in question. It was dark inside, and from what I could see of the interior through the thick layer of dust coating the window, it was pretty trashed.

"Okay, we need to do this slowly and carefully." I whispered. Unfortunately, Amy didn't do anything slowly and carefully, and she rushed past me, booting the door down with one foot before charging straight in, coughing at the sudden explosion of dust that her actions created.

"Amy!" I groaned, signaling for Donald to follow me in as I jogged after her. She was already in the back room, chucking boxes and packets through and onto the counter.

"Don't sweat it J, there's no one here." my gaze fell on a second, closed, door on the back wall, adjacent to the one through which Amy's voice drifted.

"Yeah, I'm not so sure…" I muttered under my breath. "Donald, can you take watch on the door? I'm going to check through there."

"Alright." He jogged over to the main door to stand watch as I moved to the one in the back. I wasn't sure why it was freaking me out so much, but a part of me was convinced that something was behind this door, something terrible. I reached for the handle, my hand shaking slightly. As my fingers clenched around the cold metal I forced myself to take a second to breathe, to calm my nerves. Then, in one swift motion, I yanked the door open and put the rifle to my shoulder, finger on the trigger. What then fell out at my feet caused me to turn to the side and gag; three or four putrid, rotting corpses, each bound with rope. They landed with an unpleasant 'squelch' which caused my stomach to do a second flip.

"Oh god oh god oh god." I whispered, stumbling back.

"What's going- oh." Amy asked, emerging from the larder just in time to see the bodies, her face falling.

"We have to get out of here now, it's not safe." I said, my voice flat. She paled, and nodded, forgetting what food she had found and heading straight for the door.

"Everything okay back there?" Donald enquired, having noticed our expressions. I merely shook my head.

"We're not safe here. We have to get back to meet the others, we have to warn them."


	11. Chapter 11

We stumbled along the road now, hands tied firmly behind our backs. Thankfully, Lily was nowhere to be seen when we exited the house, and so I knew she had escaped. The man and the girl had quickly claimed our weapons, and after that it was just a matter of tying us up and forcing us out of the door and towards wherever it was we were headed. I'd have fought back, god knows I wanted to, but the man was about 6"5 and built like a bear so I thought it better to let that one slide. Bumper was scowling at the floor beside me, and every time his pace slowed a little or he faltered, the girl at his back would move the blade of her knife up to his throat, just in is line of sight, and he would clench his jaw and dart forward. The man was behind me, evidently judging that I posed more of a threat in terms of escape than Bumper. He was right though; if I had the girl I'd have found a way to take her out by now. Still, there was nothing to be done now, and so I moved quietly, not even answering the questions he put to me every so often.

"Come from very far?" I remained silent. He chuckled darkly.

"Probably Atlanta, I'll bet. Fuckin' city folk don't know how t' do anything except sip their espresso coffees and read their fancy papers." He spat off to the side now, grimacing.

"I'm sensing a certain bitterness here." Bumper sighed. This earned him a poke in the back with the tip of the knife.

"Speak when you're spoken to." The girl hissed. Her eyes still seemed wide with fear and innocence, but her face had long since relaxed into a sly half-smile that showed me just how often she did this. I wondered why she had been brought into whatever this was, but I didn't see the point in asking. We rounded a corner now and there, rising up in front of us was a large building surrounded by a dozen or so military guards.

"Shit." Bumper muttered.

"That's right, you're in deep shit now, son. This here's what used to be the hospital - now it's where the whole town lives, excluding us toll collectors that is." He was grinning as though he was extremely proud of this. Finally, I spoke up.

"Toll collectors?"

"Ah, she speaks. Finally deemed us worthy of your words? That's right anyhow, toll collectors. We collect up any travelers that pass through here and bring them to the sergeant. See, when the shit hit the fan, we were all panicking, we didn't know what to do. Then, a few tanks rolled up and the military guys took over, fortified the hospital and offered us protection in return for refuge and food and such. Our job is to give them the travelers. Some we use as bait for the infected," At this he shot an evil look at Bumper, who paled and gasped.

"And some," he continued, "They train up and recruit." He nodded to me now. I felt like the blood in my veins had stilled an turned to ice. He pushed us forward again, and called to one of the guards by the door.

"Got another batch over here." The guard smiled and nodded to our captors, stepping aside to allow us through the doors. The first thing I noticed was the smell - disinfectant and despair - and second to that came the blood spattering the walls. It wasn't everywhere, but as we trudged through the echoing halls, I could pick it out every so often, a patch here and a patch there. A puddle on the floor that someone had half-heartedly scrubbed at, leaving a reddy-brown stain in its wake. Soon we came to a set of stairs, and the man grabbed my arm now.

"Time to say goodbye to your buddy here." He smirked, as the girl began to shove Bumper towards the staircase leading downwards, to the basement level.

"Wait, you can't do this!" I cried, suddenly straining forward, trying desperately to break free. Bumper looked as though he was about to pass out, eyes frantic and beginning to pool with tears.

"Please don't kill me." he whimpered, and the girl snorted.

"That's not my job, I won't kill you. We've got plenty of infected friends out there who can take care of that for us." He broke down then, sobbing and falling to his knees. I was still struggling against the man's grip, but he pushed the barrel of his gun under my chin, forcing my head back, and I stilled.

"Emilia, you take the girl. If I have to carry this sorry sack of shit down there I will, but don't think it'll spare you a beating, boy." I felt the gun change hands, and now the fingers clenched tightly around my arm were smaller, softer, weaker. I could hear the man lifting Bumper up off the floor now, and from the way in which the crying had stopped I guessed that he really had passed out.

"What a pussy." The man cackled. His boots began thumping down the stairs, and I grit my teeth.

"Let's move it." the girl pushed me forward, further down the corridor. One of the lights was flickering wildly, and it was starting to make me feel dizzy as my head was still tipped back and my eyes one the ceiling.

"Why aren't you recruiting him too?" I braved a question, wincing at how hoarse my voice already sounded. I heard the girl sigh.

"He's not up to it. Did you not just see him cry like a baby and pass out back there?" I guess I couldn't argue with that. Still, I was desperate to save him at this point.

"Okay, but he could be something else. He's handy with tools and good at directions." This earned a harsh bark of laughter from her.

"Yeah, because we're running low on that sort of person around here." She stopped walking now, pulling the gun away slightly so that I could look at her.

"Look, I know you want to save him but seriously, there's no point trying. He's as good as dead now. As for you, you're lucky and you should be thanking your stars that I'm not taking you down there as well. You'll make a good soldier, but first you need to learn to shut your mouth." I hated someone so much younger than me talking to me like I was the kid, but I did keep my mouth shut, if only because I was still staring down the barrel of a gun. We walked a little way further down the corridor and finally came to another staircase, this one leading further up into the building.

"Move it." The girl grunted, and I began to jog up the stairs as fast as I could, all whilst trying not to trip. Finally, four flights later, we came out onto a level that was so uncomfortably warm and stuffy that I immediately started coughing.

"Shut up." I glared at the girl. Was I not even allowed to cough now? A shadow passed across my face and I snapped my head round to see a short man leering at me from the entrance to a room just opposite the top of the staircase.

"I take it this is our latest recruit? Do come in, ladies." I was jostled forward again, and once in the room, sat in a worn office chair. The room was quite small, but decorated to look like an office, the large oak desk that separated me and this new man covered with various pens, documents and a large map. We sat in silence for a moment, the man and I, the girl still stood at my back with the gun to my head. Eventually the man sat up in his chair and waved the girl over.

"You've done well. This one looks good, take this back to your father." He handed her a pack of something wrapped in old newspapers, and she saluted before walking out briskly, shooting me a triumphant look as she swept past me. The door closed with a loud click, and silence settled once again. After a few minutes, I decided to break it.

"Uh, so would you mind telling me what happens now?" The man looked startled as I spoke, but then his face relaxed back into the same creepy smile.

"Well, first things first. What is your name?" I scowled.

"Beca Mitchell."

"Well, Mitchell, my name is sergeant Pearson, and I'm in charge of this whole town. You and your friend were caught trespassing here and now you belong to me. It may seem archaic, but sadly this is the world we live in now. I hope you can understand." He rose to his feet now, and began to pace back and forth behind his desk.

"How did you know about my friend?" He chuckled.

"I have plenty of footsoldiers who keep me well informed of everything that happens around here. And you're about to become one of them, lucky girl. I have a good feeling about you, I think you'll make a fine soldier. It's getting dark now, but tomorrow we start your training. For now, I'll have someone escort you to your temporary quarters. After tonight you'll move into the 'barracks' with the other soldiers, but this is just a precaution. We need to keep you guarded until we're sure that you'll cooperate. For that same reason, you'll remain tied up for tonight." I narrowed my eyes at him, ready to ask more questions, but he was already waving in another person, this time a soldier. He looked to be about seventeen, so hardly much older than that girl. Is everyone around here a fucking kid?

"Escort miss Mitchell to her room and make sure she's secured." Pearson ordered, and I was yanked roughly to my feet and shoved out of the door. My room was on the next level down, and I found it to contain a hospital bed, a bucket of stone cold water and a bar of soap. The soldier took out a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and placed them on my wrists before removing the rope ties. He then exited the room, closing and locking the door behind me. My heart sank as I heard several bolts being drawn across, and I collapsed back onto the bed, a few tears escaping my weary eyes. How was I going to get out of this situation?

Amy, Donald and I were stood at the truck for about an hour before Chloe, Aubrey and Stacie arrived back, and we were all waiting for the others even longer than that.

"Do you think we should go look for them?" Chloe eventually asked, the anxiety evident in her voice. I shook my head.

"No. Beca will be back, you know she can handle herself." Chloe moved closer to me now, whispering so that no one else could overhear her words.

"But what if she isn't okay? I'm worried, Jesse, they've been gone a long time." I sighed.

"Alright, we'll give her another hour and then go, okay?" She nodded and stepped back to where Aubrey and Stacie were talking. Aubrey shot me a look of confusion as Chloe burrowed her way into her arms, and I shrugged. Suddenly, I felt someone tap my shoulder from behind, and I spun round to see Lily waving frantically at me.

"Lily! What's wrong? Are Beca and Bumper with you?" The others all stood up now and crowded around the poor girl, who looked on the verge of tears. For the first time since meeting her, I finally heard her speak.

"A man, a man and a girl in one of the houses tricked them and captured them. I was keeping watch outside so they didn't see me, so I followed behind them. They had them tied up and at gunpoint, and they took them to the hospital. I overheard them saying that it's where the whole town lives now. There were soldiers everywhere so I couldn't go any further." I clenched my fists as the group around me gasped and began panicking.

"What do we do, Jesse!" Chloe gripped my shoulder, eyes searching mine desperately.

"We have to go in after them. Lily, can you help me figure out the layout of the guards around the building?" She nodded.

"Great. We'll plan how to get in, and then once it's dark we'll head back and rescue them."

Everyone nodded in agreement now, and Lily and I set to work drawing out a vague map in the dirt. I could feel pure dread creeping through me at the thought of Beca and Bumper being held prisoner, but I also knew that now was not the time to let my emotions get to me; I had to concentrate on saving them. We only had one chance.


	12. Chapter 12

When I finally came to, I was met with two sets of eyes watching me closely.

"Ugh, what the fuck?" I groaned, trying to sit up and noticing that my hands were bound tightly behind my back.

"Welcome back, buddy. We were beginning to think you weren't gonna wake up." One of the people, a friendly-looking woman with vibrant red hair laughed softly. The man beside her offered a more timid grin.

"How long have you guys been down here?" I asked, still struggling to move.

"A few days maybe? It's hard to tell down here. It's a basement level, so no windows. What's your name?"

"Bumper." This elicited a stronger laugh from the woman.

"Cool name. I'm Cynthia-Rose, and this is Benji." Benji nodded to me.

"So what, they're really gonna feed us to the infected then?" I finally pulled myself up into a sitting position, sighing with relief as the pressure on my wrists was removed.

"Yup. Sucks, huh." I grunted in agreement, taking the opportunity to look around the small basement room. It was completely bare except for the three of us and the poles that we were chained to, which ran floor to ceiling. As Cynthia-Rose had pointed out, there were no windows to indicate what time it was, and the door didn't have one either. The only source of light within the room was a single bulb hanging from the ceiling, casting an eerie orange glow across everything. It was making my head hurt.

"Were you a-alone when you were captured?" Benji asked nervously. I wasn't surprised to hear that his voice was as tentative as his general persona.

"Nope, I was with this bitch called Beca. Actually, we were with a whole group of people, but we split up to search the town. Anyway, Beca and I got captured, and she's being recruited apparently, whatever that means."

"Lucky her." Cynthia-Rose snorted.

"Well, not entirely." Benji offered, and we both turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I heard the guards saying that often they have to torture and sometimes kill those who don't cooperate. Do you think she will?" He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Not a chance. She's more the independent, rebellious type. She'll put up a hell of a fight." I replied. Benji shook his head.

"In which case there's no telling what they'll end up doing to her."

"Yeah, well I'd say anything's better than being fed to those infected bastards out there." I spat, leaning my head back to rest against the pole behind me.

"He's got a point." Cynthia-Rose murmured, and Benji merely shrugged.

We sat there in silence for a while, the only sound the constant hum of the light-bulb, and then I spoke up again.

"So there's… there's no way out of here?"

"Not that we can see. And besides, unless you're a contortionist or an escape artist or some shit then we're stuck in these cuffs. So no." Cynthia-Rose retained her calm, matter-of-fact tone, although I thought I could see a flicker of fear in her eyes at the reminder of our helplessness.

"You said there were others though, didn't you?" Benji asked hopefully.

"Yeah, there are. Whether or not they'll find us down here I don't know. Depends how long we've got, I guess." And with that, we descended into silence once more.

I thought I was going to be allowed the night to sleep, but a few hours after being locked into my tiny hospital room and placed in handcuffs, they came for me again. I was hauled to my feet, still in a sleepy daze, and dragged down the corridor to yet another strange room. This one contained a single metal chair, fitted with leather restraints, and I could make out several objects on the counter to the side. I was forced into the chair, and then another official-looking man sauntered in. He wore one of the more formal military uniforms, and from this I could tell that he had rank.

"So, you're the new recruit? Bit small, eh? Still, I can see how you could be useful." I bit back a snide retort, all too aware of my situation. The soldier who had brought me in was now removing the handcuffs and quickly binding my arms and legs with the restraints built into the chair. When he finally stepped back, I tested them quickly, and found that I could barely move.

"You're probably wondering why you're here so soon. In truth, the Sergeant has a bit of a soft spot for pretty city girls like you. He let you go all too easy… It's my job to test your resolve now. We have to know that you'll swear loyalty to us, or else we can't do shit with you. So, we're just going to subject you to a bit of… questioning. It won't take long, if you cooperate. The outcome all depends on you, my dear." He sneered at me, raking his eyes across my body as he did so. I felt sick to my stomach.

"Fuck you." I growled, and his expression morphed into one of mild amusement. He strode forward and struck me across the face with the back of his hand before leaning in close, so close that I could feel his breath on my face.

"The novelty of your 'fighting spirit' will wear off very quickly, miss Mitchell, I'll warn you of that right now. I don't think you want to test my patience much more." I felt dizzy with terror. What was he planning on doing to me? He moved over to the counter now, and began sorting through the objects that lay atop it, finally lifting up a small penknife and a set of pliers.

"Let's begin, shall we?"

Thankfully, Lily apparently had an amazing mind for directions. She was able to lead us straight back to the hospital, even in the darkness, and soon we were all crowded behind a set of dumpsters, picking out the guards and snipers posted around it.

"I count three snipers. One up on the hospital roof itself, one on this building to the right and one on the building opposite." Donald whispered, and I nodded.

"Besides that, there's twelve footsoldiers out here. All armed. We need to check the back for a possible way in." The others nodded and we began to creep down the back street which we hoped would take us out behind the hospital. Eventually, we managed to loop around so that we found the back of the huge building. There were a couple of guards round at this end, but not as many, and these seemed more relaxed, smoking and laughing calmly.

"Okay," I hissed, directing the group's attention towards me. "I'm gonna take Donald and Chloe inside. The rest of you stay out here as a backup. In case anything goes wrong I need some of you on the outside. Got it?" Aubrey, Lily, Stacie and Amy nodded, and I handed Aubrey the axe.

"Watch your backs out here. We won't be long."

"How are we getting in?" Chloe whispered, and I pointed to a large air-vent just ahead of us.

"We're going in that way." I glanced across to where the guards were leant against the wall, joking about something or other, and decided to take action.

"Come on, this way. Stay low." We sprinted across from the entrance of the alley to the vent, pressing ourselves up to the wall as soon as we got there. I then reached across and began to work at the grille of the vent, trying to pry it free. Donald began work on the other side, and soon we managed to pull it off enough that we could remove it quietly. As we slipped inside, crawling on our hands and knees in order to fit, I felt the adrenaline shoot through me. This was literally a life-or-death situation, something that I wasn't inexperienced with anymore, but it scared me all the more to think that now we were up against sentient human beings. It seemed odd to me that even now, when all of us who were still breathing in our own right were up against this violent plague, we were still turning in and against each other. I hadn't wanted to tell the others about the bodies, and I had made Donald and Amy stay quiet about it too. I really didn't want to worry Chloe, mostly. I knew that she'd immediately jump to the worst conclusions if she knew that Beca was in the hands of murderers, and I had to keep her focused for now so that we could save both Beca and Bumper. Since she'd finally snapped and attacked the infected, she'd become one of the best at it, and I wanted her collected and by my side when we rescued both of them. I knew we could do it; now it was just a matter of breathing quietly and watching carefully for those we wanted to find, all whilst avoiding those who couldn't find us. Easy.

I had long since given up on resisting. My body, too, had stopped responding to each blow, each tear and burn and stab, with burning screams, and now I just felt pretty numb all over. Sure, I could still feel everything he did to me, but it was muffled, dulled, almost like it was happening to someone else and I was only experiencing the echoes. I could hardly hear his voice now, either, the malice in his tone the only thing sharp enough to cut through the fog in my head. I guessed he was still banging on about 'loyalty' and my 'rebellious nature', but after I had repeatedly refused to listen to his bullshit arguments and pledge myself to his fucked up little army of lost kid-soldiers he had started with this, the torture, and I had stopped caring. The thing was, he was going to kill Bumper, and he was probably close to killing me right here, right now in this room, so what else could I really do? The only thing left to do was to make this as frustrating and difficult for him as it was for me. Everything he did elicited such a loud, heart-wrenching scream from me that eventually even he began to twitch and wince slightly at each one. I won't pretend that each scream was entirely forced; I doubt I'd have been able to restrain them even if I had wanted, but it made me feel a little better to know that even if it was just a little shard of glass pricking away at his brain, I was still causing him a bit of pain. He'd been at it for hours now, and I could tell that he was starting to get weary, and yet he wasn't relenting yet. He came up close to my left ear now, and I could just about hear him choking out his words.

"You think you're above all this, do you? You're so indifferent to what happens to you, what happens to your friend? What if I told you that there's more down there, and if you don't start cooperating I'll make you be the one to kill them all? How's about that?" I clenched my jaw. If he thought he could force me to do that, he had another thing coming. He'd have to kill me before he could force my hand to a trigger and my gun to my friend.

"Fuck. You." I repeated. Those were the only two words he'd got out of me so far. This earned me yet another blow to my face, then to my abdomen, and he picked up the knife from the floor where he'd left it in a little pool of blood.

"Fine. We'll do things your way. I've got all night."

"What was that?" Chloe hissed, stopping dead in the middle of the vent that we were currently crawling through. The sound echoed out again from somewhere further up, and I flinched.

"Sounds like screaming." Donald offered.

"It… It sounds like… like Beca." she shuddered. I felt my brow furrow.

"Follow the sound. We have to find out if it's her." We set off again, crawling faster than before in the direction of the sound. This lead us up a few floors, and as we got steadily closer the sound got harder to bear.

"Oh god, oh god what are they doing to her?! Go faster Jesse, we have to help her!" Chloe practically sobbed from behind me, and I increased my pace. I still wasn't entirely sure if it was my sister or not, but then how could I be when I'd never heard her scream like that? I'd never heard anybody scream like that. It was the most awful, throat-tearing sound, sourced from pure pain and desperation, and it was causing my lungs to tighten so much that I could hardly breathe. Finally, I signaled for the others to slow, and crept up to one of the openings. Through the grille, I could make out a small room, in the centre of which sat a girl slumped over in a metal chair. Her arms and legs were bound, and a man stood towering over her, brandishing several tools almost triumphantly. Others lay haphazardly on the floor, coated in the blood that was seeping out from everywhere; her whole body was leaking it and it was pooling onto the floor at an alarming rate. I stifled a gasp as she lifted her head - it was Beca. There was no mistaking those eyes, nor that permanent smirk of hers. The man began to talk, asking her questions about where she had come from and if she was willing to pledge herself to his army yet.

"FUCK. YOU." she spat, and he struck her hard with his fist.

"Jesse, it's her! I recognise her voice. Why aren't you going in?" Chloe hissed from behind me.

"I-I don't know. I…." Just then, the man stepped back, sighing.

"I need a coffee break. I'll be back though; you take this time to think over what I'm asking. Perhaps after remembering what the alternative is you might change your mind?" He laughed and strode out, beckoning for the guard who had been standing in the back of the room to follow him before closing the door firmly, leaving Beca alone in the room.

"He's gone! Follow me." I grunted, pushing the grille out on it's hinges so that I could slip my head and shoulders through before lowing myself to the floor.

"Beca!" She turned to squint at me, her face a deathly shade of white.

"Oh, hi Jesse." She smiled slightly before relaxing completely, going limp in the chair. Just at that moment, Chloe dropped down from the opening and staggered across to her, hand covering her mouth tightly.

"Oh my god… Beca? Beca?" She pushed the hair back from her face, but it was evident that she was unconscious.

"We need to get her out of here, Chloe." I muttered, already moving to her side and undoing the leather restraints on her arms and legs. Donald now exited the vent and began to assist, and between us we lifted her up carefully and began to carry her to the vent.

"How are we supposed to get her out through there?" Chloe whispered, and I paused a moment. I hadn't really thought that we'd be carrying her unconscious body out of here, therefore putting a massive hole in what had otherwise been a fool-proof plan.

"Shit."

"We could try the door? If there's no guards around we might be able to make it to the ground floor, then we can just get her out of a window." Donald suggested.

"That's a good idea. Okay, Donald you carry Beca and Chloe and I will be ready with the guns." Thankfully Beca's handgun was over on the counter next to some other tools, and Chloe picked it up gingerly. I carefully manoeuvred Beca into Donald's outstretched arms and then readied my own weapon. Once we were ready, I nodded to Chloe, who opened the door slowly and peered outside. She waved us out, and we quickly noticed that the staircase was just a few metres down the hallway. We moved as quickly as possible and were soon descending the stairs. I was beginning to sweat as it was pretty stuffy on these top floors, and of course my heart was pounding the most ridiculous techno-beat in my chest, which was enough to make anyone perspire. We made it two floors without being caught, but just as we were about to exit onto the ground floor, we heard voices coming towards us.

"Quickly, down there!" I pointed to the next set of stairs leading down to the basement level. We hurried down and shuffled under the staircase itself, which ended at this level. The voices soon passed, and we crawled out after a few moments, breathing sighs of relief.

"That was close." Donald grinned. I took a moment to look over the girl in his arms. Beca was covered in a series of cuts and slashes, mostly on her arms and face. Bruises were already blossoming across her entire body that was visible to us and there were even some burn marks blistering away across her knuckles and forearms. The amount of blood what was staining Donald's shirt and even now dripping onto the floor was worrying me, and I knew that we had to get her back to the truck and to safety so that I could patch her up.

"We need to get her out of here now." I muttered, getting to my feet. The others rose to join me, but Donald's expression changed slightly.

"What about Bumper? We need to find him." I shook my head, and was about to reply when I heard a faint shout coming from behind the door adjacent to me. Placing my ear to the door, I strained to listen closer.

"DONALD! JESSE! IN HERE!"

"Do you hear that?" I wasn't sure how much time had passed in this fucking basement, but I guess I'd been dozing lightly, for the sound of Benji's voice started me awake.

"What?" I looked up groggily. And then I heard it. Whispered voices from just outside the door, ones that I recognised.

"We need to get her out of here now." Was that… Jesse? I sat up straighter.

"JESSE! JESSEEEE!" I yelled, causing Cynthia-Rose and Benji to flinch.

"What the fuck?" Cynthia-Rose grumbled.

"What about Bumper? We need to find him." That was definitely Donald. I sucked in another breath to call out again.

"DONALD! JESSE! IN HERE!"

"What are you doing, shut up!" Cynthia-Rose hissed angrily.

"No, you don't understand, those are my friends, I can hear them!" I shot back excitedly.

"Bumper?" I heard Jesse again, and then a knock on the door.

"It's me! I'm tied up in here, help!" I grinned to the others. "We're saved!"

"Damn." Cynthia-Rose allowed herself a small smirk.

"They're gonna need to find the key though…" Benji began.

"Bumper, is there a vent opening in there?" Jesse's voice came through the door again, and I glanced around, my eyes fixing on a vent in the wall opposite the door.

"Yeah."

"Alright, hold on then, we'll be in to get you in a second. We have to take Beca out of a window because she's unconscious, and then we'll come back in through the vents and find you. Can you keep whistling or something, so that we can locate you?"

"Sure thing."

"Right, see you in a bit then." And with that, they were gone again, leaving Cynthia-Rose, Benji and I to wait desperately. Who knew that bunch of losers would actually come through for me. I guess they weren't so bad after all.


	13. Chapter 13

"Is that them?" Amy suddenly whispered, leaning forward to peer into the gloom. I too sat further forward, causing Stacie to huff and shift against my shoulder where she had been leaning. We could just about make out what looked to be Jesse, Chloe and Donald carrying someone over by the hospital, currently trying to lift whoever it was through the window.

"Who are they carrying?" Stacie was now watching on too, and her face betrayed a sense of concern that I knew we were all feeling.

"It looks like Beca." Lily muttered. Finally, they had her through the window, and were sprinting across the grass to us. Thankfully, what soldiers there were guarding this part of the building were completely distracted, some even sleeping, and so they went undetected, even in their frantic dash across open ground. They dropped down beside us, panting, and Donald laid the person out on the floor. Turns out it was Beca after all.

"What happened to her?!" I gasped, glancing at the lacerations criss-crossing every inch of exposed skin.

"We'll talk about it later. We have to get back in there to rescue Bumper, he's being held in the basement." Jesse spoke tightly, as if he were struggling to hold back tears. Chloe, too, looked as though she were about to break down, and so I shuffled closer, allowing determination to seep into my voice.

"Jesse, look at you. There's no way you and Chloe can go back in there, not with Beca like this. You two take her back to the truck; Stacie and I will go in with Donald to get Bumper."

Jesse glanced up, his eyes hopeful.

"Yeah, and count me in, blondie." Amy added, and I smiled.

"She's right Jesse, we can manage. You, Chloe and Lily concentrate on taking Beca back to the truck and patching her up." Jesse nodded, and scooped the limp body of his sister up into his arms, gesturing for Chloe and Lily to follow him. I turned back to the others as they left, face set.

"Right, Donald you need to lead us seeing as you've already been in. Do you know exactly where to find him?"

"No, but we told him to keep making a noise of some sort, like whistling, so that we could follow the sound through the vents. That was sort of how we found Beca, see." There was something in his expression as he mentioned this that made me go cold all over, but I decided that I could wait to ask.

"Okay. Lead on." we dashed across to the vent, Stacie clutching my hand tightly as we did so. We made it across without being spotted and entered the vent in single file, first Donald and then me, Stacie and lastly, Amy. The metal walls were cool against my knees, even through my clothes, and I felt a chill run through me as a few whistled notes suddenly echoed out through the tunnels.

"There, that's him. I think it came from this direction." Donald set off, turning left at the first opportunity. The whistling stopped momentarily, and then what I recognised to be the opening bars to a song rang out.

"Is that Don't Stop the Music?" Jesse laughed quietly.

"That was one of our songs with the Trebles back at Barden. That's definitely Bumper." We finally came to the vent opening that seemed to be the source of the sound, and Donald peered through.

"Is he in there?" I whispered.

"Yeah, him and two others. They're handcuffed to some poles."

"Shit, how are we gonna get them free?" I groaned, already wracking by brain for some solution to that problem. Then, Amy spoke up, the grin evident in her voice.

"Leave it to me."

"How much further is it back to the truck?" I panted, my eyes fixed on Jesse, who was staring straight ahead in an effort to concentrate on carrying Beca as gently as possible. He shook his head, unable to answer.

"It shouldn't be long." Lily whispered from my side, and I bit my lip. I was trying to retain my composure, but inside I was panicking, and I really felt like I was about to throw up. I had felt this way ever since we heard that first scream in the vents, and now I was struggling to ignore it for much longer. I couldn't bear to see Beca like this, it was tearing me apart, particularly because there was nothing that I could do, but my strength came from what I felt when I thought of Jesse; He'd never seen his sister in any kind of vulnerable state. She'd always hidden away when she had to cry or freak out, and so this must be something of a massive shock to his system because of that. On top of which, he was a med student; sure, he was a freshman, but he was still the person we would all turn to in this sort of situation, and so the weight of fixing her lay mainly on his shoulders. What a terrible burden to bear. And so, for now, I kept in my tears and screams and concentrated on helping us much as I could; Beca and her brother needed me more than ever right now, I planned on being there for them as much as I could be. We were still jogging, but were tiring quickly, Jesse in particular. It seemed like we'd been running for hours, when in reality I knew that it was only about fifteen minutes from the hospital to the truck, maybe less at this pace. Suddenly, it loomed into view, and I almost cried out with relief. Lily and I quickly removed the wire ties from the handles on the back doors and flung them open before helping Jesse to carefully lay Beca out in the back. It must have been creeping closer to dawn all the while, for the sky was getting steadily lighter, but I lit some of the candles that we'd pilfered from the shop and closed the doors, not wanting to attract any unwanted attention.

"You okay, Jesse?" I asked. He nodded quickly, already rifling through the first aid kit that he and Beca had originally had in their backpacks and drawing out several rolls of bandages, plasters, some kind of ointment, sterilising wipes and a couple of asprin. With his back to me now, I finally let a few tears escape from my eyes and roll down my cheeks as I leant back against the inside wall of the truck. She had to be okay. She had to be.

My face lit up as the vent popped open and I saw Donald sticking his head and shoulders through, grinning at me.

"You found me!" I sighed, relieved.

"Don't forget about us, man." Cynthia-Rose muttered, but I could tell from her face that she was similarly excited and grateful. Donald dropped to the floor now, quickly followed by Aubrey, Stacie and then Amy.

"Dude you shoulda mentioned the cuffs though." Donald grumbled, stopping just in front of me.

"Oh shit, yeah…" I frowned. I hadn't really thought to mention them, but now I realised that my friends probably had no means of freeing us with them in place.

"Stand aside, twig bitches, I'm going in." Amy suddenly laughed, pushing through the others and going round to where the cuffs were keeping me to the pole. There was a loud cracking noise and I felt my hands drop free. I sighed with relief, moving my hands round to my front and rubbing at my wrists. Amy then moved on to Cynthia-Rose and Benji, freeing them too.

"How did you do that?!" Aubrey hissed, looking bewildered. Amy shrugged.

"I had a set of pliers on me. I picked 'em up in that shop because I thought they might come in handy." Donald offered me a hand up and I took it, grunting as my knees clicked.

"Fuck, you sound like an old man." He chuckled, and I just glared at him in mock-annoyance.

"Let's just get out of here before anyone notices we're free or whatever." I sighed.

"What about you two?" Stacie asked, turning to Cynthia-Rose and Benji, who were watching us warily.

"They're cool. They both got captured too, we might as well help them get out." I interjected, seeing Aubrey eyeing the pair suspiciously.

"Alright, fine. Let's go then." She strode back over to the vent opening and one by one we boosted each other up until only she was left. Stacie and I hauled her up after us and closed the vent, before quickly crawling after the others. By the time we reached the end of the vent I realised that it was nearing dawn, for though it was gloomy it was still getting rapidly lighter.

"We have to hurry." I whispered urgently. We were soon piling out into the light, and I could see Donald and Aubrey scanning our surroundings for guards. I blinked as the light hit my face, full force, coughing slightly as the fresh air shot into my lungs.

"I don't care that I wasn't even down there for long, this is still amazing oh jesus." I moaned, grinning as Cynthia-Rose and Benji displayed similar reactions.

"I hear you. I thought my next breath of fresh air would be my last… this is incredible."

"T-thank you for rescuing us." Benji smiled at the others, who nodded.

"No problem. Right, it looks clear, let's make a dash for the alley." We set off, my lungs still burning with the sharp new air. And then, we heard it; gunshots, and shouts from somewhere off to our left.

"GO GO GO!" Donald yelled, and we started sprinting even faster, panic coursing through our veins. We hadn't noticed a pair of guards rounding the corner as we ran, and now they were firing at our backs, a few more soldiers running out to join them. I heard a shriek from beside me, and turned to see Stacie clutching her shoulder and grimacing.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Aubrey shrieked, just as Stacie collapsed to the floor. We both sopped dead in our tracks to lift her up and carry her between us. Soon, we were out of their range, but a couple of soldiers were following behind us and we weren't safe yet. By the time we made it back to the truck, I felt like the air was so sharp and fresh that it was tearing holes in my throat and lungs, but we kept on. Amy sped round to the cab, starting the engine as soon as she was inside, and we all piled into the back, startling Jesse, Chloe and Lily who were already inside and leaning over Beca. Donald was getting into the car, already pulling away. I slammed the doors behind me, and shouted out to Amy.

"We're in, GO!" She did so, the truck leaping forward at an alarming rate, and we were away. Somehow, we'd made it. Thank god.

I was slowly trying my best to clean out the majority of Beca's cuts and staunch the flow of blood from the worst of them when Bumper, Aubrey, Stacie and two strangers bundled themselves into the back of the truck with us, all panting and gasping for air.

"We're in, GO!" Bumper yelled, before slumping back against the wall.

"Who the hell are they?" I asked through gritted teeth, and Bumper glanced at me.

"Cynthia-Rose and Benji. They were down there with me. We were chased by guards so we didn't have time to split up or anything." Now the guy called Benji was leaning forward, peering at Beca carefully.

"Is she alright?" I shook my head.

"I'm not sure."

"Do you want a hand? I'm a senior med-student, there might be something I can do." My scowl relaxed into an expression of relief.

"Seriously? Okay yeah that would be great, I'm only a freshman med so I could definitely use your help." Benji smiled, and shuffled over, picking up some of the sterilising wipes and getting to work. I glanced over to Aubrey and Stacie now, who were over in the corner.

"You guys alright?" Aubrey turned to look at me, her face pale.

"Stacie… sh-she's been shot or something." We all froze and turned to her. I quickly scooted over, trying to keep calm.

"Okay, okay can you show me where?" Aubrey turned her over in her arms, pointing to her left shoulder with a shaking hand. I wasted no time in tearing at the material of her shirt, the blood soaking through it making it easier to do so. Underneath, I could see the entry point.

"Benji, I think we need to take care of this first." He glanced up, nodding before handing Chloe the wipes.

"Keep cleaning out her cuts and burns." Lily moved to Chloe's side now, also taking over work on Beca as Benji moved to join me.

"Uh oh."

"What?" He shook his head.

"I'm not sure if we have the necessary equipment to deal with this."

"You have to!" Aubrey shouted, her face red.

"I'll try my best. Are there any tweezers or anything like that anywhere?" At this, Aubrey quickly delved into her coat pocket and thrust a pair towards him.

"Okay, great. Chloe, could you please pass me a sterile wipe please?" Chloe did so, and Benji began to wipe the tweezers thoroughly.

"Seeing as we're in no position to be picky, I'm going to have to use these to remove the bullet. We can only hope that it didn't shatter - if it's all in one piece, we'll be okay. The only thing then will be keeping the wound from getting infected. We'll have to try to stop at a chemist or something. Beca needs medicine too." I glanced back over to where Lily and Chloe were tending to my sister, who still looked pale as ever. Hopefully we could save them both. Benji dropped the wipe to the floor, apparently satisfied with the cleanliness of the tweezers, and gestured that I come closer.

"I need you to hold the wound open like this. Can you do that with one hand?" I placed the fingers of my left hand on either side of the wound and pulled it apart like he's shown me.

"Good. Use the other hand to control the blood flow. What I'm about to do will cause the bleeding to intensify, and I need to be able to see as clearly as possible. Got it?" I nodded. He carefully reached into the wound, the blood spurting up almost immediately. I dabbed it away as fast as I could, but it kept coming. Eventually, he cried out triumphantly.

"I've got it. Be ready with bandages." He pulled firmly, and suddenly drew out a small bullet held in the tweezers. He wiped it off and examined it carefully as I quickly sterilised and bandaged the wound.

"It's completely whole. She's very lucky; it didn't shatter, and she hasn't lost too much blood. She should be fine for now, but we need to find those antibiotics." Benji sighed, placing a hand on the girl's forehead. Aubrey lunged forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, sobbing into his shirt.

"Thank you, thank you so much." He looked more terrified at this than he had been at the prospect of treating a bullet wound, and he gingerly patted her back with the least-bloodied of his hands.

"No p-p-problem…" I allowed myself a small smile. Stacie could now rest and I knew she'd be fine under Aubrey's care. Now, we just had to attend to Beca.

"We've cleaned out everything we can." Chloe mumbled, eyes swimming with tears as Benji and I made our way back over to where she was still gripping Beca's hand tightly. There seemed to be no change in my sister's condition; she was still completely unresponsive and deathly pale except from the dark purple bruises blossoming across her face and arms.

"She's suffering multiple traumas, so it's not surprising that her body has just shut down; she must be in shock. We need to finish bandaging the worst of her wounds and then we can focus on waking her." Benji mused, already reaching for another roll of bandages. We set to patching up the worst of her injuries, and when we were done, turned back to Benji, who was looking at her carefully.

"Okay, we need to keep her as warm as possible. Everybody, give me your extra layers." Everyone removed their coats and jackets and handed them to Benji, who draped them over Beca so that she was covered up to her neck.

"Other than that, there isn't much else I can do. We need to get additional supplies. I need saline, and possibly blood. What blood type is she, do you know?" I bit my lip.

"A positive." He sighed.

"That's relatively common. Are you the same?" I shook my head.

"I'm O positive."

"I think… I think I might be A positive." Chloe suddenly interjected, her eyes wide and nervous.

"If that's true, then you could well save Beca's life. We need to get to a lab though, a chemists. Somewhere with equipment for testing bloods, and medicine." I dropped my head into my hands.

"I don't know where we'll find one, if we'll find one… and even if we do, who's to say it will still have what we need? Who's to say we won't end up in the exact same situation that we're in now?" I could feel the tears forcing their way to the front of my eyes, so I kept my head down, feeling a soft hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay. We'll make it. For Beca." Chloe's strength was surprising me and yet it wasn't; in a sense, I'd always known she had it in her. So I stayed there with my face pressed into my knees, and I let myself cry for a moment because my sister was lying unconscious next to me and for now, there was nothing I could do.

Hours later, we parked up and reconvened in the back of the truck. I was tired, but I couldn't quite muster the peacefulness required to sleep, and so I sat awake, watching over those around me. Aubrey and Stacie lay side by side in one corner, snoring gently. Stacie had woken up a while back, and seemed fine now. Likewise, the others were all in a large pile in the opposite corner, and beside me Beca and Chloe lay together as always, Chloe with her head on Beca's chest. Earlier she told me she wanted to keep listening to her heartbeat, and I understood that now, in the dark, when it was getting harder and harder to picture the colour of her eyes in the daylight. I knew things could go either drastically well or devastatingly badly for us from now on, but then, wasn't that how things had been from the start? Our lives had always been on the line, and now all I could do was hope. Hope that Chloe could keep on listening to that heartbeat for years to come, and hope that very soon I would be able to look into those stormy-blue eyes again and see that same old smirk that I had come to associate with my sister.


	14. Chapter 14

We drove for several days just as we had before, only stopping when absolutely necessary. Beca remained in her sickly state the whole time, waking up only once.

"Chloe." she mumbled, cracking one eye open and staring up at me blankly. I leant over her, smiling tightly.

"Hi baby. How are you feeling?" She just pouted slightly.

"Not good."

"I wouldn't have thought so, no. You need to rest up is all. We're finding you medicine, we've even got another med. student here, you're gonna be okay, I promise." She smiled a little now, and then the eye closed and she was gone once again. I couldn't help but cry. Jesse sat with me, staring at the floor beside her head.

"Do you honestly believe that?" He asked, and I shrugged.

"I have to. I can't consider the alternative. I… Do you know what that would do to me?" We sat in silence after that, although I thought I could hear tears falling beside mine on the dusty steel floor in that impenetrable darkness. And then, finally, we stopped and upon stepping out into the creeping sunrise, entered into a new town.

"Let's find us some drugs, nerds." Amy yelled, hopping down out of the cab, followed by a sleepy-looking Bumper. Donald and Lily walked over to join us from the car, and soon we were all out in the open, besides Beca that is. She was still laid out in the back of the truck, sandwiched between a pile of coats protecting her from the cold floor and the draft from the edges of the container itself.

"I'll stay here with Stacie and Beca." I said, wanting to help but knowing that I was better off making sure that the two casualties remained safe.

"I'll stay too. We don't all need to go." Donald added, and Cynthia-Rose walked to his side.

"Me too. I've never been to handy with a weapon, but I actually used to work in my dad's garage, and I've been thinking that this truck could use a tune-up." I grinned at her now, stunned.

"You kept that quiet! That would be great though."

"Right, so Aubrey, Lily, Benji, Amy, Aubrey and Bumper, you're with me. We stick together this time and stay quiet; we just need to keep a look out for somewhere like a pharmacy or a hospital." The group nodded together, and began to set off in the direction of the first row of buildings. I bit my lip nervously as I watched them leave, all too anxious because of what had happened last time.

"Hey Donald, could you help me carry Beca out here? I think she'd benefit from lying in the sun for a while." he nodded, and we soon had her stretched out on the grass, still in her bundle of coats and jackets.

"What if the infected come? Or we get ambushed by dickhead townsfolk?" Stacie asked noncholantly, flopping to the ground beside Beca and leaning her back against one of the truck's wheels.

"I've got a gun, Donald has the axe… We'll be fine. We can get her back in the truck quickly enough. I'm not worried. Something about this place just feels a lot safer than anywhere we've been so far." Stacie nodded slightly, as if she felt it too, and closed her eyes as if to go to sleep. Meanwhile, I could hear Cynthia-Rose around the front of the truck opening up the bonnet and clanking around. I moved round to stand beside her, watching as she sighed and tapped at something within it.

"Good thing I decided to take a look. This engine was a few hours away from dying out on y'all. I can fix it up though, no problem."

"You got enough tools?" I asked, brow creasing. She shrugged.

"Pliers, a screwdriver, a hammer, some wire; I can get on with that, sure." I nodded and left her to it, returning to where Beca lay. She was looking a little less pale now, which I took to be a good sign. I lay beside her, smiling up at Donald who was leaning up against the car, fingers still tight around the axe.

"You can sleep too, if you want. I'll keep an eye out for you." He said, grinning back at me.

I yawned involuntarily, and it suddenly hit me all at once just how tired I really was.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, come on Chloe, we both know you could use the rest. You've hardly slept in days." I finally sighed and gave in, rolling onto my side so that I was facing Beca now and closing my eyes. I felt her arm tighten around me where I had crawled up under it, and smiled softly as I felt myself drifting off into sleep. For the first time since Beca had come back bloodied and dying, I felt content and relaxed. Things were going to be okay, I could just feel it.

"Over there!" Amy squealed, causing us all to start and raise our various weapons, looking around for whatever it was that she had spotted.

"What do you see?" I muttered, hand tight on the shotgun.

"A chemist thingy, Jesse, over there." She pointed over to the right, and we followed her arm until we too saw the sign just peeking over the top of some shorter buildings.

"Good work." I smiled, and we began jogging over. We'd been searching for about an hour or so, and it was good to finally get out of the sun and to have found what we were looking for. When we were all crowded around the door, I turned to face the group, taking charge once again.

"Okay, Benji, Aubrey and Lily, I want you guys in here with me. The rest of you keep guard out here. Alert us if there's any danger. Got it?" They nodded, and I turned back to the door, readying myself for what could be on the other side. After what I'd found in that cupboard back in the other town I was more on edge than ever. I could still sometimes hear Beca's tortured screams echoing in my head, too. Gritting my teeth, I put my shoulder to the door and shoved against it, grunting slightly as I was met with slight resistance. Through the little gap that I had created I could see what looked like a dirty-white filing cabinet lying across the door.

"There's something blocking the door. Can I get a hand here?" I whispered, and Aubrey moved to my side now, smiling as she put her shoulder to the door too.

"Uhh, shouldn't you be leaving that sort of thing to us guys?" Bumper sneered from the back of the group. Aubrey's eyebrows shot up, and she turned and kicked the door with such force that the cabinet shot back and it opened with a loud crash. She threw him a triumphant glare over her shoulder before striding inside. I chuckled and followed her carefully, trying to hear if there were any sounds coming from inside over Bumper's angry muttering. Thankfully it seemed to be relatively clear, and Aubrey's actions hadn't attracted the attention of whatever might be lurking around. Benji suddenly pointed to a large cabinet towards the back and made a beeline for it, grinning.

"You guys keep looking around for more supplies like bandages and stuff, I'll cover Benji." Aubrey and Lily nodded, already walking over to the slightly bare-looking shelves closer to the shop's front. I made my way over to Benji, who was rifling through draws desperately.

"Found anything yet?" I asked hopefully. He shook his head.

"Just the blood kit, the meds should be here somewhere…." he trailed off, yanking open another draw and inhaling sharply.

"Here. This is what we need for Stacie." He handed me the contents of the draw, several packets of some sort of pill.

"Okay great, and what about Beca?" He shrugged.

"We need a cocktail of drugs for her. She needs some of those that you've got there, to fight off infection, but we need to get her something to combat the effect this has all had on her body and some replacement fluids. Saline solution, that should be over here… Ah!" Beaming, he thrust a clear plastic fluid bag and several bottles of something into my arms alongside the pills.

"That's that… oh good there's some Cortef over there, that's another thing that will help Beca. She's not allergic to anything is she?" I shrugged.

"Nothing I know of but cat hair."

"Fine, this should be okay then." I breathed a sigh of relief.

"So that's really all we need then?" Benji nodded, and began to walk over to the others, who were stuffing rolls of bandages, plasters and soap into their pockets. I smiled and followed him, secretly feeling extremely elated. We'd successfully gathered exactly what both my sister and Stacie needed, meaning that they would most likely be okay very soon, and I could now sit by her side and say I'd done something to help. I took an armful of supplies from Aubrey now, mostly cold & flu tablets, allergy meds, inhalers, cough medicine, painkillers, lip balm; the lot. When we finally left, we had everything we could possibly need, and we showed the others triumphantly.

"Alright, let's get this stuff to the people who need it then." I grinned, and we headed back to the truck, our spirits high.

"I think I see them coming back!" I woke to Donald's voice and his hand shaking my shoulder gently.

"Wha…" I mumbled, sitting up slowly and rubbing at my eyes with the back of one hand. Beca was still asleep beside me, and showed no signs of waking up anytime soon, so I got to my feet and went to stand with Donald, who was waving at the others. They were jogging down the road towards us, smiling, and I sighed with relief as Jesse waved a couple of white packets in the air at me. I assumed it was medicine for Beca; they had an awful lot of stuff, so I knew there had to be something in there for her, and I was almost in tears at the prospect of everything being okay now. They arrived breathlessly, and all flopped to the ground in a heap.

"That was some serious cardio right there." Amy gasped, pressing her hands to her forehead as she lay on her back on the tarmac. Jesse was making his way over to me with Benji at his side, talking excitedly all the while. I caught the end of their conversation as they finally stopped beside me.

"-This will definitely perk her up."

"What will?" I tilted my head slightly, catching Jesse's eye as he knelt beside me and gazed down at Beca.

"We passed a bakery on the way back and managed to scavenge a few pastries; Beca always loved stuff like that." I laughed. She would. Benji sat cross-legged on Beca's other side, and began to sort out the pile of things into smaller piles around him.

"First, I'm going to give her some saline, because she's lost a lot of fluids; she's been out for days and has barely had anything to drink, let alone eat. This should help her, and hopefully she'll regain the strength to actually properly wake up." He began to ready a clear bag of fluids, attaching the tube to it with a practiced hand before laying it across his lap and reaching for a pack of sterilising wipes. He swiped one across a spot in Beca's inner forearm several times, before readying the needle, attaching it to the end of the tube.

"Now, Jesse, here's how to attach someone to an IV - You'd have learnt this in your first year, so I guess I might as well show you how now." He motioned for Jesse to watch closer as he set about attaching the bag, and I turned away, unable to stomach the sight.

"The trick is finding the vein." I turned back when I assumed they were finished, and was shocked to see an already noticeable change in the shade of Beca's skin.

"She looks so much better already!" I gasped, placing my hand to her cheek tenderly. Benji smiled slightly.

"She really needed these fluids. She should hopefully wake up soon, and then we can administer her meds." I nodded, and he got up and went over to where Stacie and Aubrey were sat a little way off. I watched as he handed Aubrey a few packets of pills, and instructed the pair on dosage. It was good to see that Stacie was doing well, and I had no doubt that under the care of both Aubrey and Benji, both of whom were extremely capable, she would make a full recovery. I knew I had to apply the same optimism to my own girlfriend, but sadly it was a lot harder seeing her laid out on the tarmac, almost the same colour as that surface and the dull grey sky. It was about an hour before she woke, and in that time I managed to ask Benji every conceivable question about what we needed to do for Beca when that time arrived.

"She'll be pretty confused - her body has basically been shut down for three days, which means that she'll take a while to come round fully. So, don't be alarmed if she seems a bit strange or disorientated at first, it could even last for another few days. It's hard for me to say much more before she's actually woken up."

When she did so, it was a lot less dramatic than I had expected. Her fingers began to twitch slightly against mine, and then suddenly I felt her hand clasp mine. I turned my head to see her eyes open and darting around frantically. I immediately moved into her line of sight, and tried to use my most comforting tone.

"Beca honey, it's me, Chloe. How are you feeling?" She opened her mouth as if to speak, but no sound came out. I hurriedly reached for the water bottle beside me that I had been drinking from, and helped her sit up slightly so that she could drink. She blinked slowly as she did so, gazing into my eyes, almost in awe.

"Everything's going to be okay now. We met a doctor who's helping us, and found all the medicine you need too."

"What… what happened to me?" Her voice was cracking at every syllable, and I winced for her, unable to imagine the pain she must be in, the off-white bandages covering her wounds catching my eye as I replied.

"You were captured and… questioned. We rescued you and came here to find supplies." She nodded, apparently satisfied for the time being. I reached for the pills beside me, and popped one out of the foil casing, balancing it in my palm as I spoke again.

"You need to take one of these twice a day, to help fight off infections." Again, I helped her to sit up and swallow the pill with some water.

"Why am I hooked up to this thing?" She muttered, wincing as I lowered her back down.

"To replace your fluids. You've been unconscious for about three days now. It took us a while to get here and find what you needed." Benji came over now, and laid his hand on her forehead gently.

"You don't feel like you've got a fever, which is a good sign. Hopefully we've got this medication just in time, and her wounds won't get infected at all."

"What about the blood?" I asked, suddenly remembering what he had said when he'd first examined Beca. He nodded slowly, handing me a small kit of some sort.

"I have the kit here. Beca lost less than I thought, it would seem, seeing as she's still alive and conscious now, but I think she could definitely still use a small transfusion. Are you ready to give me a sample for testing?" I pursed my lips and nodded, handing him back the kit and extending my arm.

"What are you doing?" Beca now asked, trying to sit up again. I glanced at her, noticing the panic in her eyes as I did so.

"Testing my blood to see if it's the same type as yours. If it is, Benji is going to give you some of it to help you recover." She shook her head, paling considerably.

"No, no. I won't let you do that."

"It's okay, it won't hurt either of us, it'll just help you get better, okay?" She started flailing her arms around wildly, trying desperately to push Benji away from me. I started to grab at her to calm her down before she wore herself out, when a blood-curdling scream echoed out from somewhere on the other side of the truck. We all froze, and I immediately began to gather Beca's weakened body up into my arms.

"We need to get her to the car." I muttered, and Benji rushed to help me. A gunshot rang out, and then we could hear the shrieks of the infected, rumbling out from every direction. It felt like they had us surrounded. Benji and I were halfway to the car with Beca when Jesse sprinted over from the other side of the truck, his face bloodied and his eyes wild.

"We have to get out of here. They already.. they… Lily. Lily is dead." The news hit me like a blow to the stomach, and I choked on a sob, my head already spinning. Not another one. I couldn't bear the fact that more of us were dying. Who would be next? Amy? Aubrey? Beca? I shook my head, trying to shake out the thoughts that were lodging themselves all too firmly inside my mind. I wasn't going to lose Beca. I couldn't. Donald was shaking violently, and Jesse shot him a worried look before turning and running back towards the others and the truck. I bundled Beca up into my arms.

"Donald, get to the car. I'm going to go and help the others too, but you have to go. Now. We'll follow behind." I hesitated, seeing the fear flickering in his eyes, but then I took another breath and felt the heat of panic on my tongue and something jump-started within me, forcing my body forward. Donald piled into the driver's seat and started the engine as I lay Beca out across the back seat. She was crying silently, and I could see that the sudden movements had hurt her badly.

"I'm so sorry baby, it'll be okay soon, I promise." I murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. She nodded slightly, and I got out from the car and closed the door behind me, removing the handgun from my belt and readying my grip on it. It felt like a block of ice numbing my fingers, the weight of it enough to strike a shard of fear into my heart as my fingers brushed across the trigger. I moved around to where I could hear the others and the infected; somehow, the infected had remained on the opposite side of the truck, probably because they were satisfied with the amount of people on it I supposed. I leapt round, immediately noticing that my friends were all surrounded. Jesse was standing to the right, his stance protective and firm in front of a semi-conscious Stacie, who was also being fiercely defended by Aubrey. The others were hacking at the infected on their left flank, Amy's war cries rising above the shrieks as per usual. There must have been about thirty infected or so, all claws and burning eyes, and I wasted no time in climbing up onto the bonnet of the truck and firing into the mass of screaming bodies. A few of them went down but were soon twitching and reanimating to regroup and attack again. It seemed hopeless; how were we going to get everyone out and into the truck in one piece? The vehicle itself was beginning to shake violently with the force of the herd pushing against it, and all of a sudden I became aware of the fact that even the truck wasn't sacred ground or safe from anything; they could tear it down just as easily as I could jump right into their midst in that moment, succumb to it of my own accord just for the sake of it. But then, there was Beca back in the car and I was surrounded by friends; no, my new family. I couldn't let them go, I couldn't let myself go in the wake of all this. I clenched my jaw and began scrambling up towards the roof of the container, tucking the gun into my belt as I did so. If I could clear the area behind the truck of the infected, I could open the doors from the top for long enough to get my friends in bit by bit as the reanimation occurred. When I reached the edge and looked over, I was met with the sight of only a few of the infected trying to claw their way to the front of the group.

"BREE!" I yelled, and she glanced up, eyes wild.

"Chloe?" I could barely hear her over the commotion surrounding us, but I pressed on.

"GET TO THE DOORS!"

My eyes barely open, I watched as Donald frantically spun the wheel of the car, struggling to drive us to safety. Shadows flew across his face as we turned, and I thought I heard him choke back a sob, shoulders shaking. I wasn't entirely sure of what was happening anymore. I remembered being outside with Chloe, laying down in the sun, feeling safe and warm, and then something about Benji trying to test some blood… Then I remembered Chloe's sad eyes retreating from the car, the door closing, the wheel spinning and now here we were again, gravel crunching beneath the tyres as we sped away.

"Where's Chloe?" I mumbled hoarsely. Donald didn't turn his head at all.

"She's helping the others. It's okay, we're all gonna be fine, Beca." I wanted to protest, tell him that I could feel the terror in the air, but I was already so tired… My eyelids were too heavy to hold open even a fraction any more, and I finally gave in and let them drop with a soft sigh. For now, I had to trust him. I had to trust her. She had to be okay.


	15. Chapter 15

Somehow, it had worked. I heard a cough from somewhere in back of the truck, but I couldn't tell who the source of the sound was. Fifteen minutes earlier, we'd all been fighting to get into the truck in one piece, Chloe being the one who came through for us in the end. She'd climbed atop the truck and cleared the back area from there, pulling us up one by one so that she could then drop us into the back from that vantage point. Slowly but surely, we were evacuated by that fiery redhead, a fierce determination burning in her eyes as she undertook her task. I was the last to go, as I was the best with a weapon, the only one able to hold them off alone.

"JESSE!" She yelled, grabbing my wrist and hauling me up. I fired one last time and turned my body to clamber up the side of the container. Thankfully the reanimation period allowed me the time to do so, and soon I was safely on the roof with her, both of us panting and sweating furiously.

"Thanks. None of us would have made it without you." I gasped, trying to catch her eye. She shook her head.

"There's no time for that now, we have to get out of here before they tear the truck apart. The noise is attracting more. Let's get to the cab." I nodded in agreement, and we quickly made our way to the front of the truck, swiftly shooting down the few infected loitering around by the doors so that we could jump down and get inside. Once we were safely in, Chloe started the engine and took off at an alarming rate. Thanks to Cynthia-Rose's work however, the truck was quieter and more responsive than ever, and we were able to turn back out onto the main road after the car, quickly leaving the herd behind us. Donald noticed us following him now, and sped up, and very soon we were miles away, and all breathing a little easier. Throughout the journey, Chloe stayed silent, eyes fixed straight ahead and her hands never once leaving the wheel. I could see that she was struggling to retain her composure, however, and knew that we would need to stop before too long. Finally, Donald indicated that he was going to turn off down a small track to the left, and we followed, bumping across the dusty track in the rapidly fading light and looking for a good place to stop. Thankfully, we seemed to be a good distance from the woods, and I was about to wave to Donald to pull over in one of the neighboring fields when we spotted it. Just ahead of us, looming up over the crest of the hill came a large warehouse. It was probably more of a barn, but it held that industrial look that you'd generally find in the city, holding barrels of cooking oil, or maybe a couple of homeless people, huddled in the dank darkness of such buildings. It certainly looked out of place, but my hope shot up at the sight; if it was clear, the steel sides and doors would definitely keep us safe for tonight, if not for a few more on top of that. This would be the ideal place to rest and recover, particularly for Beca, who could do with not traveling for a while.

"Chloe, do you see that?! If it's safe, we can stay there!" Chloe said nothing in reply, and I sighed, rubbing my eyes in frustration.

"We can look after Beca properly. She'll be okay, you know that, right? She's really tough." I spoke in a quieter tone now, and I noticed that although she remained facing forward, her eyes flickered towards me now, her interest sparked. I continued, knowing that she had to pull through whatever she was feeling now, so that she could help with Beca when we arrived.

"You know, we used to play football together when we were kids. She was always better than me, despite the fact that she wasn't bigger than me for very long. Anyway, this one time when she was about eleven, and I was eight or maybe just nine, we were playing out in front of the house with a couple of other kids from the neighborhood and I called for Beca to go long for a touchdown catch. She sprinted straight across the road just as this car was coming from round the corner and it hit her. She went flying and obviously we were all freaking out, but she just got up, brushed herself off and limped into the house, ignoring us all as we tried to help her. Turns out, she broke her leg in two places and got a concussion, but she just marched up to our mom and said 'I got hit by a car, I should probably go to the doctor now.', and then collapsed." By now, Chloe was evidently watching me as I told the story, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as I described younger Beca, who was so similar to the present-day adult Beca that you couldn't help but laugh.

"The reason I'm telling you this story is that you need to know just how resilient she is. She's been through a lot, Chloe, she really has, physically and mentally, but she's strong. She's ploughed through it all, and no matter how bad things may look right now, I can tell you that she's gonna bounce right back from this. She's never been the sort to just give up. She's a fighter Chloe. And you need to be that for her too." She bit her lip, a tear sliding down her cheek as she nodded, and I smiled sadly, placing my hand on her shoulder as I did so.

"You can do it."

As Jesse recounted the story of football Beca vs. the car, I felt myself relax slightly, feeling safer in the knowledge that he was there to help take care of her. After all, he knew her better than me, having known her his whole life. I could only hope at this point that we had all the supplies we needed, and that we could hole up in this warehouse for a few days so that Beca could actually recover without the stress of traveling taking its toll on her body. Donald pulled up just outside the warehouse, and I parked next to him, leaping out as soon as I had done so and running straight to the car. I heard Jesse opening up the back of the truck and talking to the others, but I didn't bother waiting to hear what he was saying to them. I wrenched the back door of the car open, choking back a sob as I leant in to clutch at Beca's hand. She had been asleep, and she mumbled something as I pressed a kiss to her forehead. I leant in closer, hardly noticing Donald exiting the car and going to stand with the others.

"What was that, honey?"

"Go… away.. m'sleeping." She swatted at me gently, and I giggled, pushing the hair back from her face and leaning in to kiss her fully on the lips now, reveling in their sweetness. That woke her up, and her eyes flew open as I pulled away, the look of panic dying away quickly when she saw it was me.

"Oh, sorry, I thought it was Jesse trying to make me get up… for a minute I thought…. I thought everything…" She began to look teary, and I quickly leant back in to kiss her again, feeling her relax under me as I did so. I didn't pull back far once I broke the kiss, instead whispering softly to her, our lips brushing with every word.

"We found a warehouse. We're gonna scout it out, and if it's safe we can probably stay here for a few days while you get your strength back. Sound good?" She mumbled her agreement, and I smiled, kissing her again before withdrawing from the car, sighing slightly as I did so.

"Do you want me to wait here with you whilst they check out the warehouse?" I asked, watching her face morph into the effortless smirk that she bore so well.

"You go be the leader, babe. I'll be here when you get back." I beamed, blowing her a kiss, just as Aubrey reached my side, supporting a pale-looking Stacie.

"We'll stay here with Beca. The others need you, Chloe. You're the one they all trust to lead us now." I swallowed, the weight of such a burden difficult to grasp, but I pushed that to the side for now. I had more important things to do.

"Okay. You guys stay here then, We'll be back as soon as possible." Aubrey smiled, already helping Stacie into the passenger seat and then seating herself in the driver's seat. I made my way over to the others now, who seemed to all be waiting on me.

"Good, you're here, red. How do you want to tackle this?" Amy grinned, folding her arms in readiness. I blanched slightly, still unsure of my new power.

"You guys really want me to lead you in?" They all nodded, Jesse giving me a thumbs up from the back of the group.

"Okay. Well, I guess we should all stick together for a start, none of this splitting up crap. Jesse, Amy, take the rear. I'll be up front, and the rest of you cover the sides. We'll try the door first, and if it's unlocked I guess we can take a look around inside." They all nodded again, and got into a single file line behind me, Jesse and Amy staying at the back.

"Right, let's go." I said, setting off for the doors. We reached them quickly, and I tested them with my shoulder, finding them to be locked.

"That's a good sign. It makes it less likely that there's anything inside." I grunted, applying my shoulder to it with more force now. Cynthia Rose came up to me now, brandishing a small length of wire.

"Allow me." Within a few seconds, she had picked the lock. I gaped at her as she bowed slightly, pushing the door inwards as she did so.

"You pick up a few things over the years." She laughed. I chuckled nervously, my eyes on the door as it slowly creaked open. The absolute darkness that spilled out from the steadily-growing opening was something else that comforted me slightly, in that it would be less likely to have attracted anything that might still be inside, and yet there was that age-old fear within me at the thought of stepping into that abyss. The fear of the unknown, that's what it really was. None of us knew what we were walking into, nor how to deal with it therefore, and that filled us with dread as I gingerly put one foot across the threshold and stepped inside. I was met with a sight that shocked me to the core, and scared me more than any nightmarish creature could ever have done. Huddled in the corner were several frightened looking children, all leaning in to an elderly lady who stared up at me with frightened eyes, blinking in the new light.

"Close the door, you'll let them in again. You'll let them in." She hissed, her voice trembling as the children whimpered. I moved closer, taking care to scan the rest of the area for anyone who could be hiding in wait for us. I mean, as much as I was thinking about the poor kids that I saw terrified in front of me, I was all too wary that this could be another desperate trap, and I wasn't about to take any chances. I heard the others gasping behind me as they entered, muttering amongst themselves. I waved them quiet, then motioned for them to fan out and search the building. It was an open area, with this floor and what appeared to be a hayloft up a rather rickety-looking ladder. The ground floor on which we stood was bare and dusty, the only things occupying this space being the group of people and a couple of barrels of some sort, which Donald and Amy quickly searched. Bumper was ascending the ladder and checking the upper level and Jesse remained at the door, keeping an eye out for any signs of trouble. Feeling safe with the others at my back, I approached the children and the lady, trying to smile as cheerily as I could.

"Hiya! My name's Chloe, what are yours?" No one spoke for a few minutes, and I was about to try again when a young boy at the front spoke up, gaze still fixed on the floor.

"Jack, m'am." I felt my smile waver.

"Well okay Jack, nice to meet you. How long have you been here, do you know?" The old lady met my eyes now, trying to stand shakily to her feet.

"About a month, maybe two. It's hard to tell in here, it's always dark. We had to come here to escape.. to escape them."

"Do you have supplies?" She shook her head dejectedly.

"We've been living off what we could find. Mostly rainwater and hay." I stifled a gasp. They'd been living like livestock in here, just waiting to be eaten.

"Well not to worry, we have some proper food that we'd be more than happy to share with you."

"What was that?" Bumper came sauntering up behind me now, scowl in place. The woman glanced at him nervously, drawing the children in tighter.

"These kids need food, Bumper. Don't tell me you actually expected us to keep it from them." He shrugged, and I clenched my fists.

"Well I mean, we're all starving here! We've been living on cold beans and pickled vegetables for weeks! It's every man for himself out here now." I raised my arm, ready to punch the shit out of him, when Cynthia-Rose appeared beside me, placing a comforting yet stern hand on my shoulder, preventing me from swinging at Bumper.

"Come on, guys. We're all just a bit on edge because of what we've been through recently. I'm sure after a few days rest here and a few undisturbed nights of sleep, we'll all be feeling much kinder. Right, Bumper?" He grunted and backed away, going over to where Jesse stood watching anxiously from the door.

"Thanks, I was actually about to knock that grin right off his face." I whispered to Cynthia-Rose, and she smiled, before turning to look at the kids, who were beaming up at her now.

"Well hey! Look at you guys. Who wants to come and help me get some stuff out of the truck?" They all leapt up, probably relishing the chance to get into the daylight for the first time in months. The old woman hastily stood too, huffing as she did so.

"I'll come out too, just in case. You understand." I nodded, knowing full-well why she felt obliged to stay so close to these children. We all headed in a hushed group back to the truck, leaving Jesse and Bumper at the door to keep watch as we gathered supplies. I left the others too it, heading back to the car to get Beca, Aubrey and Stacie. Aubrey glanced up and saw me approaching, smiling and opening the door to greet me.

"It's all clear. There were a load of kids with this one old lady inside though. Still, it's obviously safe enough for us to stay here for a few nights, then we can figure out what to do next." Aubrey nodded, and began helping Stacie out of the car. I did the same for Beca, who was now asleep again, grunting as I hefted her up into my arms.

"You're stronger than you look, red." Cynthia-Rose had come up behind me whilst I was busy with Beca, and I started, nearly dropping the girl in shock.

"Ohmygosh! You nearly scared the life out of me!" She chuckled, shaking her head playfully.

"I just wanted to know what we're gonna do about the kids. They're freaking out over the food that we have." I glanced over to where the others were helping to load what few cans and packets we had left out of the back of the truck and into the arms of the eagerly awaiting kids. I sighed, feeling the aching remorse flow through me as I thought of what we probably had to do. I bit it back for the time being, deciding to talk it over with the others later.

"We can all talk about it later. Right now we need to get inside before it gets dark, or before we attract unwanted attention." Cynthia-Rose saluted and set off, chivvying the others to get a move on. Soon, we were all inside, and once Jesse had secured the door shut again, we were plunged into darkness. Donald lit a small fire using dry leaves in the middle of the floor, and everyone huddled around it, reveling in the warmth of its glow.

"It feels nice to stop moving for a moment." Aubrey hummed, her hand tight in Stacie's. Probably the most gratifying part of this whole ordeal had been getting to watch the two girls grow ever-closer as it all unfurled around them. Aubrey was my best friend, yeah, but I knew that she was still difficult to be around sometimes. And yet, since falling for Stacie, she'd become far more soft-spoken and calm, her nervous tendencies almost entirely replaced with rationality and peace. It was incredible. I wondered then what being with Beca had done to me, if anything. I knew I was stronger somehow. I'd always had this firey intensity somewhere deep inside of me, but it had taken that tiny girl to awaken it; to chuck gasoline all over it and grin as the flames roared and took over me. Maybe it had been when her strength had been taken away from me. She had the strength of a mountain, determined and unmovable, and once it had been sapped from my side I was forced to step up. I think that was my spark. I watched her face now, still and bathed in gentle orange light from the real fire just a few feet away from us. I had laid her down a little way off from the others, and given her some more meds before sitting back on my heels and thinking for a while. I could tell that soon I'd have to get up and sort out what we were going to do about the others staying here, but it was nice to just sit still for a moment, and breathe. Of course, it couldn't last. A flurry of movement and swearing broke me from my reverie, and my head snapped up just in time to witness Bumper leap to his feet and hit one of the kids over the head with his hand, sending him flying. I recognised the kid to be the boy who had spoken up earlier, Jack.

"Bumper!" I growled, also getting to my feet. Everyone else around me had fallen into a shocked silence, the old lady shaking with fear and probably anger. He turned to me, that scowl back in place, and pointed at where Jack was now curled up on the floor, crying quietly.

"That little twerp was stealing from me! He took my can!" I noticed a half-empty can of something depressingly grey and mushy now scattering what was left of it across the floor, dented all over.

"Why were you eating already, Bumper? We hadn't even talked about rations yet, let alone handed them out. That was way outta line." Jesse and Donald both stood up beside me now, squaring up to Bumper, who was beginning to look more worried than menacing.

"I.. I was hungry! We've hardly eaten anything for days!" That was when I really lost my temper, though I was still careful to keep my voice down.

"These kids have been living on hay and rainwater for months you selfish prick, can you blame him?" I moved to help Jack to his feet, and Jesse and Donald gestured for Bumper to move further away from the group.

"What are you doing?" He spluttered, as they kept pressing him to move backward until his back was up against the cold steel wall of the building.

"You can just stay here until you cool off and apologise." Donald muttered, casting a disappointed look at his friend before turning and moving back to the group. Bumper made a noise of disbelief, and started after him, but Jesse now pushed him back, shaking his head. Bumper finally relented, and sat down heavily, grumbling to himself all the while.

"You okay there?" I asked Jack, who I had helped to sit back near the old woman. He nodded, wiping the tears from his cheeks, and she smiled timidly at me.

"I'm sorry for his behavior, it's just been a long time since they've eaten any proper food…" she sighed, and I blanched.

"You aren't the ones who need to apologise, that's up to us, and Bumper. I'm sorry we let him lose his temper like that. Anyway, if you could tell us a little more about yourselves then we can get on with sorting out food." I smiled.

"My name is Mary, and the kids are Jack, Daniel, Luke, Megan and Laura. I'm only related to Luke and Megan, but I ended up bringing the others with me when no one else…. I was picking Luke and Megan, my grandkids, up from school when it happened. This… thing, it came out of nowhere and started attacking everyone. I grabbed the kids and tried to escape, but there were too many of them all of a sudden, and we nearly didn't make it. Thankfully, one of the village men turned up with a shotgun, and I grabbed the kids that were left and made a run for it. We tried going back home, but I could see that our street was overrun before we even got there, so we came up here. My brother owns this land, but I haven't seen or heard from him since this all happened. That's it really." I nodded, pity evident in my face.

"Well, let's get you guys some real food then, shall we?" The kids looked up at me, eyes gleaming at the suggestion. They were all so young, about eight or nine, and I felt a deep sorrow for their situation. I made my way over to the food pile now, and Jesse came to my side to help me sort through it.

"Are we going to take them in, Chloe?" He asked, his tone betraying his concern. I sighed.

"I don't know, I honestly don't. I know that we don't really have the supplies, and they'll just make it harder for us to travel and defend ourselves, but… can we really just leave them like this? I don't think I could… I want to think of the group but they're just kids, Jesse! How can I make a decision like that?" He shook his head.

"We should discuss it as a group, later, when they're asleep." I nodded, sighing again. We finally took a few cans and packets over to the kids and Mary, and watched on as they all devoured the food before them, beaming up at us when they were done.

"Thank you lady!" One of them grinned, and I smiled back, my heart breaking all the while with the weight of the pending discussion as to their fate. We could be the difference between life and death for them, but they could be that for us too. So what now?


	16. Chapter 16

I woke to the same dim firelight that had been pricking at the edge of my consciousness all night long. Had it even been a night? Was it night now? It was impossible to tell anything in this windowless prison of steel, and I shivered slightly as I tried to sit up. I could hear frantic whispering from somewhere above me, and I strained my senses in the darkness, trying to find the source of the sound. I could just make out a few words from my position on the ground, and that was enough to confuse me further.

"...it would be sure death for them!"

"yeah, but bringing them could be the same for us."

"You guys know what I think, but I doubt that'll help." I recognised Bumper's whining tone, and sighed. The others must be having some kind of meeting without me. In truth, it made sense; my injuries would have made it difficult to join them all up there, and besides, I imagine Chloe and Jesse were loathe to wake me. Still, it was kind of annoying. I glanced across to the opposite side of the fire, where the old woman and the kids were asleep. I grunted and pushed myself up now onto my feet, where I swayed for a moment, trying to adjust my balance. It'd been a while since I'd last stood on my own. I grimaced in the darkness as my body screamed in protest at the movement. I burned all over. Upon waking for the first time a few days ago, I had inspected the damage done to me by that bastard back at the military base, and found lacerations covering most of my body, along with bruises, burns and in one horrifying case, even bite marks. That man had been a monster, and I knew I had been extremely lucky that my friends had found and rescued me; without them, I'd surely be dead by now. I began to shuffle towards the ladder as quietly as I could manage, but the whispering stopped abruptly, and I knew they had heard me.

"Mary?" Chloe's voice hissed into the darkness. She sounded scared.

"It's me." I replied, now at the base of the ladder. I saw her head appear at the top now, peering over the edge and into my eyes, evidently surprised.

"You're awake?!" I smirked.

"Oh, no you're right, I'm obviously not awake right now, my bad." She stuck out her tongue, and I could make out her relieved expression even in the gloom.

"I'm coming up, you know." I stated, and her expression changed.

"No! Beca, you're hurt, you need to rest!"

"Well, if you will insist on holding secret hayloft meetings without me…" She sighed, and turned to where the others must have been sat behind her.

"Let's go down and continue the conversation with Beca. She should be involved." I heard murmurs of agreement, and so they all came down the gently creaking ladder one by one, smiling encouragingly at me as they did so.

"It's g-g-good to see you awake, Beca. How are you feeling?" Benji, the guy that had apparently met Bumper and that other chick, Cynthia-Rose, in the military base, smiled at me nervously.

"Not amazing but not terrible either." I replied, wincing slightly, as Chloe dropped to her feet beside me and grabbed my hand. The blisters on my knuckles and the cuts on my palms were still healing, and she seemed to realise her mistake almost immediately, eyes widening in a cartoonish fashion.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Beca!" She dropped my hand now, bringing her own up to her mouth and pouting at her actions.

"It's okay, really. I'm just a bit sore still." I smiled, and I picked up her hand again. It hurt less that time. She kept glancing at my face to check that I wasn't in pain as we finally settled back into a circle with the others.

"Pow-wow part dos, let's go!" Amy chuckled, thrusting both fists into the air.

"What did you guys already talk about?" I asked, noticing Jesse watching me closely from the opposite side of the circle, clearly as concerned as Chloe about my state. She was the first to speak up, explaining what she had learned about the old lady, Mary, and the kids. She then said that they had been trying to decide on what action to take next.

"It's a hard decision. It's either us or them really, but I don't know.. none of us know what we should do. We can't agree." She finished, looking down at the ground. I chewed at my lip thoughtfully. In a world full of monsters, were we next in line to join their ranks? Leaving these kids and that old woman to die would truly make us monsters. I thought again of the man at the base, that horrifying lack of life in his eyes as he cut into my skin again and again, smiling at my pain. I remembered flashes of metal, searing heat pressing into me, screaming so hard I thought I would scream out my lungs, and above all of that, the constant soundtrack of his disgusting laugh. Then, I imagined what it would be like to be torn apart by one of the infected. Probably much the same. I shook my head decidedly, and scanned the faces of the others in the group. I had certainly made up my mind.

"Listen, what happened to me back at the base… That man was a monster. This whole world is full of monsters, it always has been, but now we can truly see them. Some of them can't help it, but those of us who still can… we need to make the right choice. We can't let this turn us into monsters too. We still have the choice. I have a pretty decent idea of what it'd feel like to be eaten alive by one of those creatures out there, and I know exactly what it feels like to be tortured by one of the other monsters, so leaving these kids to that fate, that would make us monsters too. Do you want to be a monster? Could you really live with that?" They were all staring intently at me now, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Mary was now sat up and listening in too. One by one, they began to voice their agreement.

"You're right, Beca." Chloe smiled, tears streaming silently down her face. I squeezed her hand, ignoring the pain that shot up my arm as a result. Bumper was the only one left frowning after my little speech. He glared at me, and began to speak.

"The thing is, I'm sick of this bullshit. Who elected you leader anyway? We don't have enough supplies to feed ourselves, let alone a bunch of kids and their grandma. You said it yourself earlier, Chloe, they'll just hinder us in the end, and then we'll all be dead! The old lady's probably gonna die soon anyway, and the kids wouldn't survive long like this. We might as well make this easier for all of us and just move out now, whilst we still can." He stared at the others, challenging anyone to speak up against him. I got to my feet, ignoring Chloe's desperate attempts to make me sit back down.

"Last time I checked, we weren't holding you hostage. You're free to leave any time you want, Bumper. And besides, I seem to recall finding your group in a similar position a while back, would you have wanted us to leave you? We had the supplies." I smirked, cocking an eyebrow as he snorted.

"This isn't about that, Beca, this is about you trying to take control of us all and bend us to your will; you're just a selfish bitch, and I wish you'd just died in that town!" I felt a presence at my side and then it shot past me in a blur or fiery red.

"YOU FUCKING JERK!" Chloe screamed, launching herself at Bumper, who now bore an expression of confusion and mild terror. She swung a fist at him and clocked him right in the jaw, causing him to fall to the floor. Everyone, including the children, now stood, looking on in horror. The others went to stand with the children, whilst Jesse and I tried to restrain Chloe. Bumper was back on his feet though, and he pushed Jesse away when he tried to grab him, pulling Chloe just out of my reach at the same time.

"You wanna do this, red?" He growled, lifting her off her feet by the material of her shirt and slamming her body into the metal wall. She inhaled sharply, and emitted a small whimper, akin to that of a puppy that just got hit by someone it trusted. I felt my blood boiling, and all of a sudden the pain flaring up across my body didn't matter anymore. Jesse was now running back to the packs, trying to find more rounds for the gun, but I ignored this. I leapt forward, and grabbed onto Bumper's head, managing to lock my arms around his neck. I wrenched him backwards, and he released Chloe, who slumped to the floor with a gasp. I pulled him around and threw him away from me, so that he was now facing me properly.

"Do that again and I'll break your neck, asshole." I hissed, gritting my teeth through the pain I was already experiencing. He just chuckled darkly.

"You're not in any shape to do that to me right now. Besides, you're a shortass, and a girl at that. I'm not scared of you."

"You should be." I darted forwards, and blocked his incoming swing with one arm as I threw the other, punching him in the abdomen, hard. He doubled over, groaning.

"You bitch." He cursed, and I backed away slightly, hoping that that'd be enough to end it. Apparently not. His ego must have been way bigger than I could have imagined. He kept his head ducked, but began to charge towards me, roaring angrily, arms reaching up to tackle me. I swiftly dodged to the side, but he managed to catch my side as I did so, sending me crashing to the floor. He quickly spun on his heel and pinned me to the ground, pressing his knees into my wrists to keep my arms pinned whilst he dug his hands into my throat. Gasping for air, I began kicking my legs desperately, already seeing black spots swimming across my vision. And then, that red streak barreled into him again, knocking him sideways and off of me entirely. I rolled onto my side, coughing as I felt the cool air flowing back into my lungs once more. Chloe was now wrestling with Bumper, and I heard Jesse finally click a new mag into the shotgun. I had my back to him, but as I stood, I raised my right hand out behind me, hoping he would understand what I was asking. Seconds later, I felt the cold metal fall into my hand, and knew he'd thrown me the gun. I had to be the one to finish this. I staggered over to where Chloe and Bumper were frantically tumbling around on the ground, and kicked him over with one foot, so that he lay on his back at my feet. I then aimed the gun at his forehead, smiling slightly as I did so. Chloe sat panting just off to the left, pushing her hair back from her face and watching me in awe as I leaned closer over Bumper.

"Are we done here?" He scowled at me, but made no further movements.

"Good. In that case, it's time for you to go." His expression changed.

"Wait.. what?!"

"I said, you need to leave now."

"But… you can't just… what about the whole monster thing? You can't just abandon me!" Jesse and Donald now approached and dragged him to his feet. His angry protests continued as they frogmarched him to the truck, and secured him in the back. It was night time, and the air was cool on my damp forehead. I waved at him before they closed the doors, and tied them shut with the wire.

"Jesse and I will drive him somewhere far out. He won't be able to follow us again." Donald said, grim-faced. I nodded, and handed Jesse the handgun.

"Thank you."

"I just.. I wanted to say I'm sorry, Beca. Bumper and I, we were good friends back at Barden, and I'm sorry I didn't see this coming. I should have noticed what was happening to him, but I promise he wasn't always this way." Donald sighed, and I patted his shoulder comfortingly.

"It's okay, we all make mistakes. I just wish it hadn't come to this…" I watched as the truck pulled away, and heard one last scream from inside as it disappeared into the darkness.

"YOU'RE A MONSTER, BECA MITCHELL! YOU'RE A MONSTER!" I shuddered, and limped back into the warehouse, securing the door behind me. Maybe I was a monster, but I hadn't thrown the first punch. Still, his words got to me, and I felt them settling into my bones as I found Chloe's eyes watching me from across the little fire.

"You okay, red?" Cynthia-Rose and Benji were the first to intercept me as I re-entered the warehouse, and I nodded briskly, trying to put up a good front.

"Yeah, I'm okay." They sensed my reluctance to talk, and simply nodded, turning away. I made my way over to Chloe, who was sat with her chin resting on her knees, eyes downcast.

"Are you alright?" I asked, falling into a crouch beside her. She nodded, and suddenly pulled me into a desperate embrace. I returned it gently, my body now reporting pain to me clearly once again. I winced as she began sobbing into my shoulder, but forced myself to ignore the pain and continue holding her.

"Are you hurt?" She shook her head, and I sighed.

"You didn't have to do that, you know. He was an idiot, and dangerous, but you didn't have to do that."

"I know. I wanted to." She looked up now, her eyes brimming with tears.

"You're always so brave and ready to protect me… I need to be that for you, sometimes. You're vulnerable too, Beca. We all are. It's human nature." I smiled slightly, and leaned in to kiss her lightly on the cheek.

"Thank you." She relaxed now, and smiled too.

"You're welcome."

Donald and I had been driving for a few hours before I decided to stop and leave Bumper.

"This should be far enough." I sighed. In truth, I hated doing this. I knew Beca did too, but god, if only it weren't necessary. What he had said as we pulled away from that place still echoed in my ears as much as I knew it would hers.

"You're a monster, Beca Mitchell. You're a monster!" I knew my sister better than anyone; she wasn't a monster. But right now, I felt dirty, as though I'd finally been driven to do something truly horrible, and it was killing me inside. Beside me, Donald stared blankly ahead of him, unresponsive.

"I'm sorry we're having to do this, man." I muttered, as I came to a halt on a small dirt track that we had been trundling up for a while. I'd been making sure to take a relatively easy route here, so that I could find my way back, but for someone who hadn't been able to see our journey out here, and who would be on foot, it'd be near impossible to take the same route back. I'd found that this track had several turnings that all looked the same, and some of them intersected. It was a matter of counting that would get us back, but it'd confuse Bumper if he did try to follow us for the first few miles.

"You can wait here if you want." Donald nodded, and shifted across into the driver's seat as I exited the vehicle.

"I'll be ready to drive off once you've let him out. We'll need to move fast if we want to leave him here." I nodded, grateful that Donald was at least responding to the situation now. I closed the door behind me and leapt to the ground, making my way round to the back of the truck cautiously. I undid the wire as quickly as my fumbling fingers would allow, and kept the gun trained on the doors as I finally drew it free of the handles and swung them open. Bumper emerged blinking into the light, and I noticed that his cheeks were stained with tears. A sudden wave of pity crashed over me as I took in the sight of that pathetic man in front of me. He may be a complete dick, but he was totally helpless out here. I dug a couple of cans out of my jacket pockets, and handed them to him gingerly.

"Take these. I'm sorry that's all I can give you." He snorted, and took them before turning away.

"No you're not. You all hate me, I know it." I sighed.

"We don't hate you, we just… you're dangerous to us, Bumper. What are you going to do next, kill someone? We didn't want it to get that far. I really am sorry though." He looked as though he wanted to say something angry and most likely rude in response, but he glanced at the gun in my hand and apparently thought better of it, for he shut his mouth with a snap, and began to walk away into the undergrowth. I was making my way back round to the passenger side of the cab when he stopped, and turned back again, sorrow clouding his eyes.

"Just so you know, if I ever see any of you again, I swear to god I'm going to kill every single one of you, starting with your bitch sister." He turned and began walking away again. I clenched my jaw, and fought the urge to shoot him in the back of the head, end it all now. But no, he was unarmed and no matter how bad things got, I didn't want to become a murderer. I didn't want to become a monster.

"Just so you know, if I ever see any of you again, I swear to god I'm going to kill every single one of you, starting with your bitch sister." I swallowed hard, and turned away from Jesse again, all to aware of the gun clasped tightly in his hand. I knew he wouldn't use it though. He was too nice. To me, nice equalled weak, and I wasn't about that. No, the way I saw it, you had to get tough or get eaten nowadays. Gone was the version of me that passed out upon my capture, gone was the version of me that let a couple of girls beat me into submission and forced my best friend to abandon me to die. No more. I was determined now. I was going to find my own supplies, my own weapons, maybe my own troupe of people who felt the same way, and then I was going to find those fucking idiots again, and I was going to kill them. Of course, that was if their niceness didn't kill them first. It was only a matter of time, a race of sorts. I smiled to myself as I trudged through the bracken, tapping the cans in my pockets and whistling something atonal and slightly off-key. Let the infected come. I wasn't afraid of anything anymore.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N:

I really can't believe it's been 7 years since I started and ultimately abandoned this fic. Safe to say, a lot has happened since then! My life pulled me away from writing and the world of fandom, but I would occasionally remember this piece in particular and feel sad that I'd left it half-finished. I finally came back to re-read it a few days ago and was surprised at how little of it I remembered, and when I looked at the views on it how many people are still reading it in 2020! I always felt I owed it to those who read it back in 2013 to finish it, and now I finally have. I've worked solidly writing for the past two days and now I present to you the second half of Running From the Sun. It's been a fun and unique collaboration with my 17 yo self, and I hope to anyone who continues reading now that it was worth the wait. And who knows, after the disappointments of the sequel films I may find that I have other stories to write… For now, enjoy and stay safe. x

Disclaimers: I spent so much time on Google maps for this but if you happen to live in Georgia or NC, sorry, I tried my best :') I also remember a review I got back on the original first half saying that the random POV switches mid-chapter were confusing, and I have to say it annoyed me at the time but I have to agree looking back, so now they're marked out clearly. I've not written at all since about 2014/5 so yano, go easy on me and happy reading!

— Beca —

Nobody mentioned Bumper again. When Jesse and Donald finally returned, their tired eyes and heavy heads warded off any remaining curiosity about how that particular mission had panned out. In truth, I think there had been an elephant in the room for a long time. I for one hadn't trusted Bumper from the start, although it gave me no pleasure to consider that fact now. Given how things had progressed with him since our initial meeting however, it was clear to us all that he had become something else entirely. An abrasive personality and a tendency towards recklessness is one thing, but Bumper was more than that, and he'd shown that tonight by hitting that kid and then fighting Chloe and me - he was a threat. We couldn't risk keeping someone that volatile in our midst, and frankly I was sure I wasn't the only one who immediately felt a big positive shift in the group's atmosphere the moment he was gone.

Chloe stayed pressed into my side for a while after they left, until I felt I could get up and move across to speak with Mary, the grandmother in charge of the group of kids who we were currently sharing this space with. She looked anxious as I limped over, probably feeling a mixture of fear for herself and pity for me. What a mess I must look right now.

"Hi, uh I've not really had a chance to introduce myself properly yet but I'm Beca, if you hadn't already gathered." I smiled awkwardly as she nodded slightly, her eyes darting across my various bandages, now all coated in heavy brown dust, and some showing spots of new blood following my fight with Bumper.

"Look, I just wanted to come and apologise for that just now. It's all taken care of, he's not gonna be bothering any of us again." She seemed to barely register my words, her eyes glazed now as she turned her gaze back to the floor by my feet.

"You people keep apologising to me like it really means anything." Her words came out as a whisper. Confused, I glanced back over my shoulder to see if any of my group had noticed the exchange - Chloe was keeping half an eye on me across the tiny fire as she sat talking quietly with Benji, who I knew wanted to check that she was alright after what had happened. I'd promised him he could do the same for me afterwards. Other than that, no one was paying much attention to me right now. I turned back to Mary, who raised her face to meet my eye.

"I…. What? What do you mean?" I asked, genuinely bewildered. My head was beginning to pound, the adrenaline from the fight finally starting to evaporate from my system, leaving me with the pain of my various injuries to contend with, old and new alike. She sighed.

"You know, none of you people actually asked if you could stay here. I don't mean to sound angry but you must realise that even if I wanted to challenge any of you on any of the things that have happened since you got here I wouldn't have any kind of a chance in hell, right?"

Things began to turn over in my brain. I hadn't really been with it when we'd arrived here - in fact, I was mainly unconscious for most of that transition, but it still hadn't occurred to me since that we'd not really given much thought to whether or not this poor woman accepted or wanted us here. And since then we'd not exactly kept to ourselves. First, Bumper had hit that poor kid, then we'd had a probably fairly loud group meeting about whether or not to leave them to fend for themselves, after which Bumper, Chloe and I had gotten into the ridiculous fight which had resulted in him being banished from the group. All in all, I suddenly realised how selfish that was. We were treating these people like passive, unwitting spectators in our main story.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry… Shit, I know I keep apologising but I really mean it. You know as well as anyone how awful it is out there. You've done well by these kids, bringing them here, keeping them safe. I guess we've already gotten used to being selfish within our little group through all this. Our last encounter with other people was…. not good. And I guess we've turned inwards even more since then. It's no excuse though, I am sorry. If you want us to leave I get it, I can make sure we all move on quickly." She shook her head slowly.

"I don't know what would be right just yet. I know that you people do need this place right now though. When you first got here you weren't even conscious, and after what just happened I can only imagine you'll need even more rest. Y'all should at least take some more time to recover, then we can decide what comes next." She finally gave a weak smile, and I felt a wave of relief substantial enough to combat the concurrent wave of pain to crashing over me. She was right, I knew. I was in no state to travel or defend myself, let alone anyone else right now, and I was sure the others needed the rest just as much as I did. Even just emotionally, now that everything with Bumper had been dealt with once and for all maybe we could all actually just take a few days to recover from everything that had been going on.

"Thank you, that's very generous of you. If you don't mind, I think I might just go and have a lie down now actually." She nodded, her worried eyes on my back as I shuffled back over to the rest of my group. Chloe saw me approach and quickly stood, covering the remaining distance between us with a few brisk steps. I practically sank into her embrace, finally allowing myself to fully feel the weight of my new injuries on top of those I had already sustained at the hospital.

"Ow." I mumbled into her shoulder, exhaling deeply as she carefully stroked my back.

"You're kind of an idiot, you know that right?" She whispered, and I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Listen, I can't help my protective instincts. If you insist on throwing yourself into fist-fights with morons like that then what am I meant to do?" I murmured back sarcastically. She pulled away and suddenly cupped my chin in both hands, tilting my face to hers. She seemed serious now.

"I know this and I love you for that but I need you to rest now, okay Beca? If you keep getting injured or tired…. just rest, alright?" The laughter was no longer hiding behind her words, and I knew she was holding back true fear as she spoke.

"I know, I know. It was kind of dumb in retrospect to just launch in like that, but thankfully we're all okay and we can take it easy for a few days now." She smiled, relaxing. Dropping her hands, we moved to sit against the far wall, nearer to the fire but far enough away from the others that we could have a moment to ourselves. I didn't feel like making any kind of big group address just yet.

"Is that what you wanted to talk to Mary about?" Chloe whispered, her fingers tracing across the back of my hand softly, absentmindedly. I sighed, beginning to peel away one of the bandages that had ripped in the earlier struggle.

"I wanted to introduce myself properly since I'm actually a semi-functioning human again now, and to apologise for, well, all that. She was scared though. I hadn't stopped to think that we must scare her, she has no way to match us in anything right now. I told her if she wanted us gone I'd get it done, but she said we should at least rest up here for a few more days. In truth, I think she's as stumped as we are about what to do next." Chloe frowned, her eyes moving to stare into the darkness of the far corner, trying to pick out Mary's form in amongst the shadow.

"I didn't think about that, any of it. When we got here I was just so worried about you I didn't even…. oh god-" tears began to well in her eyes, and I reached out to clasp her forearm.

"I know, and she knows too. I don't think she's angry, she just needed to make me see. But we're gonna do exactly what she suggested, take a few days to all rest and then we can see what happens after that." She nodded, swallowing hard and rubbing at one eye as the tears backed down.

Everyone drifted off to sleep in their little groups, Chloe and I wrapped up in each other against the cold warehouse wall. When Jesse and Donald finally returned, I woke just in time to see a faint stream of daylight push through the doorway and into the dim grey of our surroundings as they quickly let themselves back in, only to barricade it back outside a moment later. Nobody asked them a thing, only whether they were hungry or wanted to sit closer to the fire. I looked out across the room again, across the grey. On the other side of the space a Grandmother and several young children. Closer to me, a group of people I had come to know and trust. My brother sat wearily a little way away, rubbing his temples and closing his eyes to rest. And Chloe beside me, her warm skin pressed close to mine, creating our own little sphere of comfort in amongst the clamour of uncertainty. I sighed, and she turned and gathered me back up in my arms, pulling me back down to rest once again. All in good time. For now, sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

— Beca —

When I finally awoke, the atmosphere in the warehouse had shifted once again. Aside from waking up briefly after Jesse and Donald's return to let Benji check me over and redress my wounds, I felt like I must have slept for at least 12 hours. Not that it was possible to tell in here, but nevertheless it was enough to totally disorient me, and it took me a few seconds to shake my initial panic as my eyes came into focus and I began to realise who was gently shaking my shoulder to rouse me.

"Beca, Beca are you awake?" It was Chloe, her voice terse and her eyes wild. I groaned, rubbing my face with my least injured hand and starting to sit up.

"What is it? Are we safe?" In my mind, being awoken like this meant danger, from the infected or another group. Adrenaline once again flooded my system, forcing out what remnants of sleep remained. Now fully alert, I swung my head around to take in my surroundings and check on the rest of the group. Everyone seemed very still, which was weird if we were under attack. Jesse and Aubrey were stood over by the door, and everyone else was dotted around the warehouse, looking confused and anxious.

"What the hell is going on Chloe?" I asked, fear bleeding into my voice as I thought through the possibilities. I started to count who was here: Amy, Donald, Benji, Aubrey, Jesse, Chloe-

"They're gone Beca. We woke up and they were gone." Ice drove its way into my chest, splintering and cold. My eyes widened in realisation.

"Mary and the kids? Oh god…" I could see now that she was right. Although the light in here was dim as ever, it was now clear to me that our group was suddenly alone within the warehouse. Mary and the kids were no longer huddled in their corner, nor were they apparently anywhere else. I could make out the members of our group scouting every other available inch of space, finding nothing. They really had gone. I staggered to my feet, the now familiar ache of my bruises rising to meet me. I ignored the pain, moving towards the door where Jesse and Aubrey turned to watch me approach. I couldn't read their expressions. Jesse seemed tired, and I wondered if what he'd had to do mere hours earlier had somehow pushed him over the edge.

"What happened?" I could hear the others now reconvening behind me, following me over as I came to a stop in front of my brother. He sighed, shaking his head and glancing at Aubrey who looked similarly tense.

"I guess somehow we were all asleep at once at some point. I woke up a few minutes ago and…." I could hear the emotion in his voice. This was too much for him, I could tell. I put a hand on his shoulder, ignoring the tightness of my skin as my various cuts and burns pulled and screamed in protest.

"It's okay. I know we normally all take shifts, but after everything over the last few days we can't be surprised that all of us needed the rest. It's nobody's fault." His jaw twitched, and I could tell that he disagreed. I couldn't fathom why he felt he could blame himself for this. How could any of us? I turned to see the rest of the group now loosely gathered behind me, the same fear and sorrow etched across their faces.

"Should we go after them? They can't have made it far." Stacie spoke up, her eyes darting between Jesse, Chloe and I. I too looked to Chloe, who was managing to remain surprisingly stoic.

"We have to at least try. I don't think any of us could ever forgive ourselves if we just did nothing." She finally replied, not breaking my stare as she did so. I nodded. She was right. The others murmured in collective assent, and I took a deep breath. Looks like I'm gonna just have to rest on the go.

I moved over to the door and carefully opened it a crack, just enough to feel the outside air on my cheek and allow a sliver of light to fall at my feet. It was daytime at least. I closed the door once again.

"Okay, we need to split up again. I know that's not what anyone wants right now but it's the only way we're gonna be able to cover every possible direction. Jesse, Chloe, Aubrey and I will take point, each going out in a straight line from this point with a partner. Jesse, you and Amy go North. Chloe, you and Benji go East. Aubrey, you and Donald can take South, and then Cynthia-Rose and I will go West. Stacie, I know that you're doing well at the moment but I think it would be a good idea to leave someone here with our supplies and the vehicles, just in case." Stacie looked a little put out to be called out as the one to stay behind, but it would be weeks before her shoulder would allow her to use any kind of weapon effectively again, and I wasn't lying when I said it would be good to have someone guard our things. At the very least it would hopefully ensure that we could at least keep hold of the truck if anything went wrong here while the rest of us were away. Everyone seemed satisfied with the plan, and so we began to prepare. If we wanted to sort this out quickly, we needed to get a move on. I waved Aubrey over to where I was stood with Jesse and Chloe.

"Have you got something substantial for a weapon yet?" I asked, and she shrugged.

"I've been using anything I can get my hands on, but if you've got something good I'll definitely take it." I gave a small half smile, gesturing to something leant up against the nearby wall.

"I found that section of pipe just now, I reckon it'd do some good damage." She seemed pleased with that, and went to retrieve it. Soon, we were all assembled by the door, as ready as we could ever be. We'd come so close to just having a moment to rest. I suppose Mary thought there was no harm in her leaving with the kids in the night, and in fact she probably thought it was best for all of us. And maybe it was, but I couldn't just accept that at face value. I knew we at least had to try. And so, weapons in hand we filed one by one out of the door, blinking into the bright mid-morning sunlight. Forward, again. Ever forward.


	19. Chapter 19

— Chloe —

Benji and I had been walking for what seemed like hours. We were headed roughly East, scouring the terrain for any sign of Mary and the kids, but also any infected or soldiers. We'd travelled a fair distance since our escape from that awful hospital, but there was no guarantee that they wouldn't come out looking. Better to be on the lookout ourselves, anyway. Benji sighed, squinting up at the sun.

"Looks to b-be about 1 o'clock, by the sun." He said softly. I stopped, exhaling too in frustration. Beca's instructions had been to walk in as straight a line as possible til roughly midday, then head back the same way. Benji and I had been so intently focused on our search that we'd forgotten to pay attention to the position of the sun, and had overshot by a whole hour. Dammit.

"Shit. We should head back." I said, hating that I felt relief with those words. I had been praying to see just a glimpse of our quarry this whole time, and yet, nothing. It broke my heart to think of that poor old woman and those kids out here fending for themselves, but maybe they'd been lucky and found somewhere else safe to stay. Or maybe another group had found them. I allowed myself to imagine Beca and Cynthia-Rose running across a field to meet them, Mary's face glowing with relief, the kids gleeful and surprised. It was a nice image, so I kept it in my mind's eye as we turned back the way we had come and began our trek home. It was going to be a long one.

— Jesse —

I knew that once Amy fell silent it was time to start thinking about heading back. It wasn't in her nature to be quiet or focused, so I could tell she was tired. The sun had just hit the middle of the sky, and I reckoned we'd gone as far as we could anyway. I was starting to think that we had probably crossed the border into Tennessee at some point, or maybe North Carolina. Out here in the sticks it all looked the same. I stopped and took one last sweeping look around me, trying my hardest to peer through gaps in the trees and bushes. Nothing.

"We done?" Amy asked, sounding hopeful. I nodded.

"There's nothing more we can do, except hope that someone else was more successful. Come on, let's get back." We exchanged a hopeful look, and turned back. Had anyone else been any luckier than we had?

— Aubrey —

It was no good. By the time we noticed the position of the sun, Donald and I had already given up hope, so it came as a welcome relief. We both looked up and then nodded firmly to one another, exchanging no words. I wasn't always one for talking, and ever since we'd had to banish Bumper, Donald had barely said a thing. It wasn't surprising. I knew they had been close back in college, so it's no wonder doing such a thing had taken its toll on him. He was a sweet guy. I tried to think of something to say, but the words escaped me. So, we marched back in silence, straining our ears for any unusual sounds in the undergrowth. My mind bounced back and forth between our safety out in the open and that of Stacie back at the warehouse. The sooner we were all back in one place, the better I knew we would all feel.

— Beca —

It was just approaching midday when Cynthia-Rose and I spotted them. There, leaning against a large, beat-up van with tinted windows stood a sad array of kid-soldiers, all dressed like those back at the hospital. I grabbed Cynthia-Rose's arm, pulling her down into a crouch behind a fallen tree. Luckily, we had spotted them from inside the cover of the forest, and from the road it would've been difficult for them to see us. Steadying my breathing, I peeked around the edge of the tree trunk, quickly sizing them up. There were four younger soldiers, all looking to be around 16 or so and dressed in a shabby assortment of tactical gear. Standing just out of sight by the rear of the van was their leader, talking loudly to another man who responded in short bursts, but gave enough for me to ascertain that he was indeed an adult. The leader, I recognised instantly from his booming voice alone. It was the bastard who'd tied me up and tortured me. He'd never actually given me his name, but it was clear he was someone high ranking. I listened carefully, trying my hardest to suppress the rising terror his voice was invoking in me.

"I know they came somewhere out this way, it's only a matter of time before we stumble across their camp. Or their corpses. Either way, I want this done. I want to find her and make sure it's finished." My blood ran cold, and Cynthia-Rose turned to look at me, horrified.

"Do you think…." she whispered, shrinking further into the shadow of the tree trunk nervously. I swallowed hard, and nodded.

"He's coming for me." I shuddered involuntarily. I hated that this arrogant man could elicit any kind of response from me at all. I'd resisted so hard during the actual torture, so why couldn't I stop the breath from catching in my throat at the sound of his voice? I tried to breathe evenly, signalling to Cynthia-Rose to follow me deeper into the trees. We darted carefully through the woodland until we could no longer hear his voice ricocheting off the trees, and then began to jog back in the vague direction of the warehouse. We'd not been walking for more than an hour, and the time it would take for him to reach our base in a van would be far less. Thankfully, he had no idea where he was headed or what he was looking for, so I felt that the threat wasn't quite so immediate. Still, I was panicked. I hadn't really expected him to come looking for me. Was that so foolish? I hadn't imagined the whole group of them wanting to expend valuable resources and time on searching for just one escaped recruit. I supposed that they'd also lost their three other captives, but clearly I'd done something to piss off this man personally. On top of that, it was evident that he was higher ranking than I had realised. Was he in charge of it all somehow? I hoped not. With any luck, he just had enough sway to bring a couple people out for the next few days of searching the general area, and nothing more beyond that. If he was in charge, with that whole unit at his disposal, then we were really screwed. My mind raced as we closed in on the warehouse, trying to figure out what to do. It was clear we couldn't stay here. If he did come across the warehouse in his search, he'd see our vehicles and know someone was inside. Maybe they'd just burn it to the ground straight away, or throw a couple grenades in the door. My real fear was that he was going to find me and take me back with him to the hospital. I was absolutely terrified at the thought of waking up to find myself back in that chair. I knew if he got me back there, I'd never leave again. My arms itched and burned as I thought of the cuts and burns running across them. Whatever happened, I couldn't face the thought of him getting his hands on me again. Finally, I spotted the roof of the warehouse in the distance, and increased my pace. I had to start thinking about where to go next. And then an even worse sound reached my ears. I heard Cynthia-Rose curse beside me.

"That definitely came from the warehouse." She panted, and I grit my teeth as we broke into a sprint. But was it human or infected? I hadn't been able to tell which of my nightmares was coming true. Then it echoed out again, and suddenly I heard a yell, quickly followed by a shot. That was Jesse, and the other voice had been Stacie. I glanced at Cynthia-Rose, who had clearly deduced the same thing. Sweating profusely in the midday southern heat, we rounded the corner to find them at the front of the warehouse, Jesse and Amy each with an arm around Stacie, pulling her to her feet. In front of them lay three infected, all of them already beginning to twitch and creak as their severed limbs and shot-spattered forms began to heal. Pausing to catch my breath, I drew my handgun, already scanning the treeline ahead.

"Beca!" The voice was Aubrey's this time, and I spun around to the left just in time to see her and Donald barreling out of the undergrowth, followed by another two infected. I quickly took them both down, giving the pair enough time to reach us, breathing hard.

"Where's… Chloe.. and Benji?" Donald panted, as Aubrey stumbled over to wrap her arms around Stacie, who looked distraught.

"I don't know, I haven't seen them yet!" She sobbed, flinching as Amy methodically crushed the heads of the infected lying closest to us.

"They haven't got back yet?" I frowned, instantly feeling new shards of fear worm their way into my system.

"Jesse and Amy got here first. I'd just come outside to meet them when the infected attacked, and then you and Cynthia-Rose showed up. Then obviously Bree and Donald just got here, but that's it!" Stacie explained. I quickly walked round to the side of the barn I knew to face East, scanning the horizon. Where were they? Fear gripped my chest, and drained the energy from my limbs. Had they also encountered infected? I'd known it was a possibility, but maybe I was just growing complacent in the face of stronger threats. In fact, was it possible that another patrol from the hospital had found them? What if I was wrong, and they had multiple units out searching? Or maybe they'd found Mary and the kids, and were coming back more slowly. I couldn't think clearly. Suddenly Jesse was beside me.

"They'll be back soon, Becs, I'm sure of it. You've seen how Chloe fights now." I nodded, trying to let his words calm me, but the panic was stronger. I forced myself to walk back over to the others, who were taking it in turns to deal with the few infected gathered around us that kept reanimating.

"There's something else." I began, willing my hands to stop shaking as they turned to me.

"What is it?" Jesse asked from behind me.

"Cynthia-Rose and I came across a patrol, from the hospital. I… the guy who… He's looking for me. He and a few others are out in a van searching, and there may be more." The others looked horrified, unable to stop themselves from eyeing up my bandages. I felt hollow.

"But we're safe here, right?" Stacie said, in a tone that betrayed her own disbelief even as the words left her mouth.

"I wish we were. But that was only an hour's walk from here, and they can cover ground a lot faster in a van. I don't know what way they're headed and they don't know what to look for, but if they spot us…. I don't think we can stay here." I said quietly. Amy swore, swinging the wrench she'd been using since the town at the nearest infected in frustration.

"Where are we going to go?" Jesse's voice sounded small, shocked. I could see he was tired. No, actually, exhausted. I felt the same.

"I… I don't know." I hated this. Maybe if I'd cooperated when that man was torturing me he wouldn't be so hellbent on finding me now, and the others would be safe. Or maybe even if I'd just let him kill me- but no, It was crazy to think that way. I wanted to do my best for these people but it wasn't my fault that I had been captured and tortured by that sadistic asshole, nor that he was intent on trying to hunt me down now. Still, it hurt to see the effect of this information on the others. Just when things seemed to be improving, even just a little, everything came crashing back down again. When would we ever get peace?

Just then, I heard it. We turned in unison to the east. There, in the distance, the screech of an infected. One, no, maybe two or three… It was hard to gauge from this distance. I heard a shout, and that was enough to start me running headlong towards it. That had to be Chloe and Benji. I registered a couple of the others following me as I tumbled into the undergrowth, crashing through bushes and tree branches towards the source of the sound. Another shout echoed out, and then suddenly two figures burst out of the trees beside me, and carried on past. I recognised the familiar flash of red, and turned on my heel to chase after her.

"Chloe! Benji!" I yelled, Jesse and Cynthia-Rose right behind me. Chloe, now just ahead of me, turned to look over her shoulder, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Beca!" She didn't stop running, her eyes darting over my shoulder. "God, we're being chased by a group of infected, keep running!" Her breathing was heavy, but she didn't slow. Benji at her side was similarly keeping pace, his face pale. I tried to glance behind me, but couldn't see anything as the glaring sunlight hit my face. How many could feasibly be behind us right now? It had only sounded like a couple from a distance, but would that really cause Chloe and Benji to run like this? We all broke out of the trees, the warehouse suddenly looming just up ahead. I began to hear shrieks and growls from behind us now that we were making less noise running across open grass. They were getting louder and more numerous. Fuck. We all sped up, and I began waving my arms at the others who were stood waiting at the warehouse.

"Get… the… CARS!" I shouted, almost catching my foot on a rock as we sped towards them. They stared back, stunned. Exasperated, I turned to look behind me at what could possibly be holding their attention. And then I saw it. Out of the forest behind us, a heaving mass of infected were pouring out from between the trees. There were maybe a hundred, if not more, already sprinting towards us. The noise must have been lost amongst the dense woodland, because now it was deafening.

"Christ on a bike, GO GO GO!" Amy bellowed, the first of the group by the warehouse to break from her state of shock. The others quickly followed suit, with Aubrey and Stacie clambering into the cab of the truck and starting the engine, and Amy hopping into the car to do the same. Donald darted back into the warehouse, presumably to grab whatever he could. Thankfully I knew we'd kept almost everything stowed in the packs Jesse and I had been using since we left our cabin, and sure enough he emerged mere moments later with both packs, one on either shoulder. He quickly lobbed them into the back of the truck and leapt in after them, ready for the getaway. We were almost upon them now, the last few hundred metres stretching up a small hill. My chest was burning, and I could tell that we were all exhausted. Still, the mere sounds of the hoarde behind us was enough to keep me moving. Just a little bit further. I could hear Amy screaming at us from the car, but couldn't make out her words now that the infected were so close. I could barely hear my own ragged breathing any more.

Aubrey had backed the truck up as close to the edge of the slope as she could, and was revving the engine. Amy had opened the passenger doors of the car and was leaning out of the driver's window, honking the horn madly. If that lot from the hospital hadn't figured out where we were yet, they'd surely know now. Still, with any luck the sheer volume of infected at our backs would be deterrent enough. Cynthia-Rose made it to the car first, and clambered in. Jesse and Chloe quickly leapt into the back of the truck, which was now beginning to pull away. Benji was falling behind, and once I had noticed this I had begun dragging him with me, which in turn slowed me down. Aubrey caught my eye in her side mirror, and I gave her a nod. She had to get the truck moving. It was slower, louder, and all-around more vulnerable to attack. There was still room for us in the back of the car.

"SHIFT YOURSELVES! COME ONNN!" Amy roared, and I made one last huge effort to pull Benji alongside me and shove him towards the car. It was enough, and he dived in as I made it to the other side, and we both slammed our doors shut. I barely had all my limbs in the car before Amy's foot hit the floor, and we went careering away from the warehouse and the mass of infected behind us at breakneck speed. Panting heavily, we all sank back into our seats and watched in horror as the infected tore through the warehouse that was rapidly shrinking into the distance behind us. I hoped that Mary and the children were safe somewhere. There's was no way we'd find out now. The truck was a little way ahead of us, clattering noisily down the dirt road. Suddenly, a shot rang out, and I heard metal strike metal right by my head. Someone had just shot at the side of the car, and then out of nowhere, the van with tinted windows crashed into view, pulling up alongside the car and swerving dangerously close.

"Shit, it's them!" I cursed, pulling my gun out from my belt, and frantically winding the window down.

"Hold on!" Amy shouted, pulling off the track to narrowly avoid the van as it made another swerve towards us. They fired again, and Benji and I ducked down in the back. I could see the truck ahead of us, and willed them to carry on. I was glad that Aubrey was behind the wheel, because I knew that if it had been Jesse or Chloe, they'd be doing a U turn right now, and the last thing I needed was more of us in danger. Amy's wild driving was also suddenly very useful as she took us off-road, veering madly from side to side as shots rained down on us from behind. I breathed a sigh of relief as the truck disappeared from view. At least I knew they were safe. The van was pulling up alongside us now, and I fired off a few shots, breaking the rear passenger window closest to me. Behind it, one of the young soldiers stared out at me, brandishing a huge machine gun. It was clear he wasn't using it. I was sure that the only people I needed to fear right then would be up front. Sure enough, I saw a hand come over the top of the van and start firing at me from the front passenger side. I set my jaw, and fired again, this time aiming for the front of the vehicle. I was running low on ammo, and realised with a jolt that the majority of my remaining supply was in one of the packs, both of which were in the back of the van. I was an excellent shot, but I didn't have a set target right now, or the bullets to spare finding one. Amy swung the car around yet again, and we sped across the intersection of another track. Suddenly, I knew what to do. I leant out of my window, and shot their front tire closest to me. Immediately the van skidded, and I fired again at the other front tire, managing to hit in in three shots. By now they were quickly vanishing behind us, and I collapsed back into my seat, sweat dripping from my forehead.

"Nice shot, short-stuff!" Amy cheered, bringing us back onto the track with a final wrench of the steering wheel.

"We're not safe yet." I replied, willing myself to relax and enjoy the small victory, but not able to shake my fear. She shrugged.

"Well, they're not gonna catch up with us now. Maybe the infected will get em." Cynthia-Rose offered, and I gave a small laugh.

"You know, that's true, I'd forgotten about them already."

"Do you think you can find the truck again Amy?" Benji now spoke quietly, and I felt my momentary elation fade.

"I don't think we're even on the same road now. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going, just on stopping us from getting blown to bits." Amy replied, and I knew she was right. We'd cut across open land during the impromptu chase, and although we were on a track road now, it was very likely not the same one we had left behind moments earlier. We continued on in silence for a minute.

"What do you want to do, Beca?" Cynthia-Rose finally asked, always a level-headed presence. In truth, I had absolutely no idea. A sign for the highway flashed past us.

"Let's get on the highway. Maybe they'll have done the same." It was the only straw I had to grasp in that moment. I could only hope that Aubrey had spotted similar signs along her track and decided to follow them. There wasn't anything more I could do.


	20. Chapter 20

— Chloe —

I wasn't sure how long we'd been driving in the darkness of the truck, but by the time we stopped I was surprised to see that it was only just beginning to get dark. As Jesse, Donald and I crawled out of the back, stretching our stiff muscles, I immediately noticed that we were alone. I turned on Aubrey, who was descending the cab and offering a hand to Stacie as she followed.

"Where's the car?" I asked, somewhat more aggressively than I intended. She looked away guiltily. Something was wrong.

"We lost them." I felt my mouth drop open in shock.

"You… you lost them?!" My skin was flushing hot with fear and anger. Why was I angry? Aubrey seemed to notice this, and instead of rising to meet it as she normally would have done, she became even more timid. It was surreal.

"I'm not sure what happened, we were trying to look at the map and when we checked the mirrors they just weren't behind us anymore. We tried to slow down but they didn't reappear. We've stayed on the same road but… I think they must just have turned off somehow without us noticing." She stammered. I was furious.

"But… but why?" Jesse asked, beside me now, his face the picture of confusion. I couldn't understand it either. Aubrey shook her head sheepishly. I turned and strode away, unable to contain my anger any longer. I knew it wasn't her fault, but I was confused and terrified. What if they'd had an accident, or gotten attacked, or lost? Some rational part of my mind decided that if they'd had an accident it would have been pretty hard for any of us to miss, even over the roar of the truck's engine. So maybe they just got lost? It wasn't impossible with Amy at the wheel that she hadn't simply decided to take a different route. But we weren't aiming anywhere, so why would she? My brain was taking me round in circles. I pressed my palms into my eyes and focused on breathing deeply. Panicking wasn't going to help me now. I could hear the others behind me trying to figure it out too. Finally, I walked back over, unable to meet Aubrey's eye.

"We have to drive back and look for them." I said bluntly. They stared at me like I had two heads.

"They could be anywhere by now, and the infected…" Stacie whispered, trailing off as we all thought back to the threat we had only just so narrowly escaped. I clenched my fists at my sides.

"What else can we do? We can't lose them, and they may need our help." Jesse nodded his head, and I could see they reluctantly all understood what I was saying. Then Aubrey spoke up.

"We did… we did just pass a sign for the highway. I thought that maybe we should get onto it and maybe they'll do the same. If I got lost that's what I would do, it's the only signage I've seen this whole time." I took a second to consider this. As much as everything in me was screaming to just turn back around and search for Beca and the others, I knew that what Aubrey was saying made sense. It seemed most likely that they just got lost somehow, and if that was the case then they too would probably follow the same logic and turn onto the highway in hopes of finding us. I sighed, finally meeting her gaze. She looked so apologetic.

"You're right, Bree, that's a good plan. Let's get to the highway." I reached across and squeezed her hand. Relief flooded her eyes, and she nodded quickly.

"Yes, okay, good, it's only a few miles further now according to the signs."

"Good, alright. I think Jesse and I should take a turn in the cab now so you and stacie can rest. It'll be better to have fresh eyes on the road." I responded, and Aubrey nodded agreement. So, with a final stretch of our limbs, we returned to the truck and set off down the track once more. It wasn't long before we reached the highway, and turned onto tarmac for the first time since fleeing the warehouse. It was strange to drive on such a big road with nobody else there. Every so often, we would pass the wreckage of a car or flatbed truck twisted around the central reservation or wrapped around a tree by the roadside. Finally, as darkness took hold of the night, I pulled up in the outside lane. We would have to take the night in shifts, watching out for our friends but also any threats which seemed ever-more present the longer we spent in this exposed, man-made area. I spent most of the night awake in the cab, even when I was supposed to be resting. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the road, willing her to appear in the mirrors at any second, beaming and falling into my arms. I fell into a fitful sleep as dawn broke, and dreamt of her. I dreamt that we were back in my family home in Arizona, sitting out on the porch in the blazing sun and laughing at something she had said. I longed for that reality. I could only hope that when I awoke it might be to see her face once more. If I could take part of that dream with me, let it be that. Let it be her.


	21. Chapter 21

— Beca —

We didn't get onto the highway until the next morning, primarily because the insane off-road pursuit and shoot-out had clearly had an adverse effect on the car. During the night, it spluttered to a halt, and we worriedly set about assisting Cynthia-Rose in getting under the hood and getting to work on it as we tried our best to peer into the darkness around us, straining our ears for any sounds of danger.

"We're lucky none of the bullets hit anything much in here." Cynthia-Rose mused, cursing as she attempted to adjust a heated part of the engine by hand, with only the torn collar of Benji's shirt to wrap around her fingers. She eventually announced that we'd just pushed it too hard, shooting a look at Amy as she did so, to which Amy just shrugged and laughed.

"Got us out of a scrape though, didn't I?" She said, and I chuckled, knowing full-well that if any of us had been behind the wheel instead we might not have made it. Finally, Cynthia-Rose declared that she'd sorted what she could, and we piled back in and set off once more, this time with me at the wheel. Amy and Cynthia-Rose quickly dozed off in the back, and Benji and I sat in silence in the front. I just had one thing on my mind: finding the others. As the final sign for the turning onto the highway came into view, I felt my heart leap in anticipation. Maybe I'd see them immediately, up ahead and waving happily. To my inevitable disappointment however, I was merely greeted by a mass of dark tarmac, littered with trash and a few wrecked cars. I sighed, moving into the middle lane and slowing to ensure that we could get a good look of everything we passed. I had to hope that they had a similar process, and hadn't moved off the road for the night. As we drove, Benji hummed quietly, and I was grateful for something for my unconscious brain to latch onto over worry. The further we drove, the more anxious I became that they'd gone another way. What if they'd tried to circle back and retrace their journey to find us? If they did that there was a good chance they'd end up running into the van we'd fought with, and that was a scary concept indeed. I knew that Chloe would have wanted to turn back, but Aubrey was certainly focused enough to keep them from making that mistake.

Suddenly, over the horizon up ahead, the sunlight bounced off the dusty grey of the truck's container and hit me square in the face. I was overjoyed. I turned to Benji, beaming.

"It's them!" I cried, and he grinned back before leaning into the back to gently poke the others awake.

"Bloody hell, what now?" groaned Amy, and I pointed to the truck up ahead. She cheered, and I heard Cynthia-Rose sigh with relief. It was unbelievable really that we'd managed to find them again. As I pulled to a stop beside the truck, I saw the driver door open and felt my heart explode as Chloe descended, her sleepy eyes locking with mine as she let out a gasp. I got out of the car, my face aching with the smile I couldn't shake.

"Jeez, what gives, I thought you liked me!" I joked, and she rolled her eyes playfully before scooping me up into a hug.

"God, I was so worried." She mumbled into my shoulder, and I pulled her in tighter, despite the deep ache of my bruises. It was worse to endure the ache of being apart.

"I'll always find you." I whispered back. I knew it was true. It was nothing short of a miracle that we were all managing to stick together this far, but I knew that there was something that would keep me coming back to her, no matter what. The others were all beginning to emerge now, and Jesse ran over to squash both Chloe and I into a hug, given we were already sandwiched together.

"Oh Beca I'm so glad to see you!" He laughed, rocking us back and forth in his arms.

"What's this, a group hug without ME?" Called Amy, and I felt her flop against us, followed by Aubrey and Stacie, who both appeared to be crying with relief. Cynthia-Rose and Benji finally relented, and we all stood there in a ridiculous clump in the middle of the deserted highway, until I finally managed to get enough space to yell, "If you guys don't let me out now I'm about to whoop all of your asses!" This made them laugh, and we all fell apart happily. It felt like some kind of big family reunion. But the ever-present worry I had come to know was still there, creeping around the edges of my consciousness as I looked on at my group. We couldn't just stay here forever. There were several very real, very imminent threats we needed to keep distancing ourselves from. I sighed.

"Okay guys listen up." They gathered round, and I recounted the chase with the van. They were all shocked to hear the tenacity with which they had attacked us, and they could tell from my voice that I was worried about what would happen next as a result of the encounter.

"We're not safe yet, are we." murmured Donald, grinding his fist into his palm. I shook my head.

"Not until we put some serious distance between us and them. I have to hope that they won't want to stray too far from their base at the hospital, so hopefully if we can put some hard travel in over the next couple days we should be okay." I replied, sounding more confident that I could bring myself to feel. Everyone nodded, and I was glad they couldn't tell how afraid I was inside. I knew none of them expected me to be completely fearless in the face of the people that tortured me, and yet I couldn't bear to allow any weakness to show through my tough facade. Not yet. I knew that Chloe could tell, though, and Jesse too. Plus, I was beginning to realise that Cynthia-Rose was not only very collected but also very good at reading people, and she looked at me now knowingly. I shrugged it off, and we began to make plans.

"First of all, I want to propose a rendezvous point in case we get separated again." I began, and the others agreed quickly.

"I've been thinking the same thing," said Aubrey, pulling the map from the truck out of her back pocket and unfurling it to show us. "Look, we're here, on Route 23. We're actually almost in North Carolina now, and If we keep heading North we might be able to get further into one of the national parks up there and away from some of the infected." She pointed to the patches of forest and mountains that made up Nantahala National Forest and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the border of Tennessee. I nodded thoughtfully. Parts of that were classified as wilderness, which sounded promising with regard to getting away from any infected.

"What about a meetup spot?" Jesse asked. Aubrey pointed to the map again.

"If we keep heading up the highway we'll pass through Franklin. From there we can head West, but that's a converging point of all the other highways, so I thought if we get split up again we should all head to Franklin. I'm pretty sure I've been once before to visit a friend, and there's a big Walmart just off the highway before you actually get into the town itself as we're going to approach it from the South. We could meet there if we needed to, plus hopefully get hold of some more supplies at the same time. What do you think?" Aubrey directed the question to me, and I nodded again, my eyes pouring over the map to make sure I could memorise as much as possible.

"I think that's a really good plan, Aubrey. Ultimately I think it will be safer to head for an area like the National parks where we can get some distance from where larger groups of infected might be. If we can gather supplies on the way, hopefully we can find a lodge or something similar out there and maybe finally make a permanent base. And if we get lost, Franklin seems as good a place as any to reconvene. Any opposition?" I looked around the group, and saw no sign of disagreement, which I was glad of. It seemed to be a solid plan, and I was grateful to be able to take a break from any hard thinking. Everyone seemed similarly relieved to have a clear destination, and knowing that we had a contingency plan in case we became separated again made us all feel that little bit more secure. We stayed in place on the highway a little longer, scavenging for any food we could gather from plants by the roadside and dividing the gear back between the two vehicles like we had done in the past. Finally, we set off again, this time not just aimlessly driving but with a destination in mind. We were set to pass through a few towns on our way into North Carolina, and we had agreed to stop outside them in turn and scout them out, gathering supplies if they were deserted and moving on if not. It felt nice to have a plan. Jesse, Chloe and I settled back into the car and into our now old and familiar routine, Chloe's hand clasped firmly in mine as we sat close in the back, Jesse singing tunelessly along to an old Eagles CD. The way things happened in this new world was unrelenting and exhausting, but moments like this were that much sweeter for it, and I cherished them. I could only hope that we could strive for more good than bad in-amongst all the chaos.

— Bumper —

With no way to tell the time aside from the passing of day and night, it was impossible to keep track of how long I lasted alone. After those assholes left me and drove off, I had resolved to find another group and get my revenge. It wasn't a small aim: it hinged entirely on my ability to find other people who wouldn't immediately try to kill me, and then to convince them to take up my cause against people they'd never met. Even if I managed that, I would have to find the Beca's group again. That part was actually the least worrying to me, because at least I knew they would be in the warehouse. I might not know its exact location, but if I teamed up with any locals from the area they surely would. It was just going to take some good fortune, but surely I was due some of that by now? I didn't believe in Karma or any of that crap, but if it did exist then surely things would be squared off after what those bastards did to me. In fact, I believed things ought to be in my favour now, karmically-speaking. The universe owed me one.

My hatred and rage fuelled me through the next few nights of aimlessly wandering, searching for signs of anyone. Part of me wished I could find my way back to the town where Beca and I had been captured. Maybe if I could get back to them, I could give them information on my former group in exchange for their help punishing them. I couldn't be sure of course, but I bet that they were still pretty pissed that we'd all managed to escape the way we did. Time passed, and I still didn't see anybody. Every so often I'd encounter some infected, but somehow every time I managed to get away with my life. The only thing hindering me was my lack of food and water. By the time a week or so had passed, I was starving. I had been eating whatever I could find, but that wasn't much. The hot Georgia sun was beating down on me day by day, and I could feel myself slowly shrinking under its glare. But still, I carried on. I was beginning to lose count of the days by this point. There seemed little point in keeping track anyway, the passage of time was pretty meaningless now. All I could think of was survival. Survival and revenge. God only knows how long it was before I came across them. My eyes burning with the afternoon sun, I stumbled straight into their path. A group of young-looking teenagers, all dressed in dark clothing and carrying weapons had been beating a path through the forest, and we all stopped dead in our tracks and stared in confusion, before one of them finally pointed a gun at my head.

"Stop." She said, in a wavering voice. I smirked.

"I already am stopped." She didn't say anything. I looked around, trying to see if there was anyone else with them. "Is it just you three out here?" She shook her head quickly.

"No, our captain is here." Captain… I began to think. Had my wish come true? Could these kids be from the same place that had taken me hostage just weeks earlier? I opened my mouth to ask another question, when I felt somebody approach from behind me and stiffened in response.

"Well well." A gruff voice spoke almost directly into my ear, and I flinched. I had to be careful here. "I wonder if this is one of the escapees we're meant to be out here lookin' for. Either way, no harm in bringing him back, eh squad?" He moved around to stand in front of me as he spoke, and I saw to my delight a man dressed in the same military uniform I had seen on the guards as we had escaped from the hospital.

"I've been hoping I'd come across you, actually." I began. He raised an eyebrow, intrigued. I couldn't suppress a grin. Maybe things were finally looking up for me.


	22. Chapter 22

— Beca —

We made a few successful stops on our way out of Georgia, and as we finally passed into North Carolina I finally felt the last of my tension following the chase with the van dissipate. Of course, there was nothing to say that they couldn't track us this far. I had no idea really what tools they had at their disposal, nor how determined they were, but it felt good to think that we'd crossed a border, though that was a meaningless enough distinction these days. Everyone seemed brighter and more cheerful after an uneventful few days. We managed to get hold of some decent food supplies on our stops, and barely encountered any infected, which was a welcome break in itself. We took to stopping to cook our meals the way that Jesse, Chloe and I had in the start, and we began to fall into the comfort of routine. It was nice. We told stories, made jokes, did party tricks. Amy started doing her own version of standup comedy, and it turned out that Benji was an amateur magician, and he succeeded in impressing us all with disappearing tricks that none of us could figure out, much to his amusement. He and Jesse had taken to talking at length about things Jesse should have been learning at college, and it was nice to see them with some focus. Cynthia-Rose was likewise teaching Donald how to look after the vehicles, and Aubrey, Stacie, Amy and Chloe had their singing to occupy them. They would occasionally sing through an old song from their repertoire when they felt like it, and I would always add new layers in my head as they did so, imagining what other elements I could add to it if I were making a mix. It was good to rest, too. After everything, I was finally healing. Some of my injuries were already fading into scars, and my bruising was almost imperceptible now. I felt good, and had taken to getting some exercise in during my watch shifts at night. With so much time in the car, I felt like it was important that I keep my cardio up so that I could still run when I needed to. Chloe would sometimes join me, but more often than not she preferred to just sit and watch me do push-ups and jumping jacks, teasing me every now and again in a flirty kind of way. Occasionally I would think about the type of intimacy I still longed to have with her, but there wasn't really any space for that in our current existence. We made do with holding each other close at night, whispering questions to each other about our past lives, back when things were 'normal'. It was tough to do this without bringing up certain difficult memories and emotions, but it was good to learn about each other. I loved hearing about her writing, and her plans for after college.

"I wanted to write a novel, right out of college. I know that's probably what everyone says, but I had a great idea for it. It would've been big, I know it." She smiled ruefully.

"What was the story?" I asked, and she scoffed, gently batting at my shoulder.

"I can't tell you that! You'll have to wait to read it one day." I liked that she could still think that way, still imagine a future in which she could sit down at a desk and finally write her novel, and then I could read it and fall in love with her all over again. It was a nice thought, so I didn't press her, despite my curiosity. I wanted to hold out for that future too. She, in turn, was desperate for more details about my music and my life in London.

"It's sooooo cool that you moved there to do music! Like, so cool. Very rock and roll." She giggled, and I couldn't help but laugh too.

"Yeah yeahhhh, it was you know. I was sharing a flat with this guy called Luke, he was real rock-star material. You'd have liked him." She laughed again.

"A flat, listen to you. Good thing you came back here before you went fully British on me." I blushed, and laughed with her. And so, piece by piece, we pulled together a portrait of each other's lives before all this. It was strange to think that we'd never get to really experience one another in that kind of context. I mean, I suppose there was no way to say that for certain, but it felt almost impossible to imagine that we'd ever go back to exactly how things used to be. Looking back on the fragments of my life as I lent them to her, I wondered what image of me they created, and how that differed from the real me. Part of me still worried sometimes that I'd let her see too much of myself, and that one day she'd decide she didn't like me. It was a childish thing to worry about, or so I told myself. But still, doubt lived on somewhere in the back of my mind. Thankfully it was never enough to derail me completely, and I still felt happy in her estimation of me. Maybe she saw me for exactly who I knew myself to be. I hoped so in a funny kind of way.

Finally, a few days of laid-back travel later, we came to Franklin, North Carolina. I could see road signs up ahead signalling turnings for various parts of the town centre, but we turned off towards Aubrey's Walmart, hoping that we'd still be able to do a supply run before heading back into the wilderness, maybe for good. I felt relieved that we had all arrived here together, but it was still nerve-wracking coming this close to a medium-sized town after everything. Besides, after the last few successes, it almost felt like we were due a setback. I tried to push that from my mind as we pulled to a stop in the parking lot, the furthest side possible from the store itself. I exited the car warily, casting my eyes across the empty lot. There were certainly no signs of anyone having been here recently. Abandoned shopping carts stood dotted around where they'd been left at some indiscriminate point in the past, some empty, some full of sun-bleached items and mouldering food. It was sights like this that really drove home the scale of what we were currently living through. I shuddered. Still, it was a good sign. This looked to me like the undisturbed aftermath of the initial fallout from the virus, and hopefully, that meant that nobody had been here since. I nodded to Donald, who was behind the wheel of the truck, and he and Cynthia-Rose got out to meet me. The others all followed suit, from the car and from the truck's container, and soon we were all huddled round, readying our weapons.

"Okay, I wanna take this nice and carefully, just like the last few places. Stacie and Amy, you two are with the vehicles." Stacie was still not able to fully use her left arm, and Amy was the loudest. With Stacie behind the wheel of the automatic car and Amy in the truck, if anything went wrong for us they'd be ready for a quick getaway, and if anything went wrong on their end, Amy would let us hear about it. They nodded, Amy reaching over for a fist-bump with Stacie, who smiled. I continued, "Then we're gonna split into two groups, one for entry round the front and one round the back. You know the drill with infected or other people - escape and evade wherever possible if it comes to it. Otherwise, we'll be close by to help out. Any questions?" They stared at me blankly. After the last few days of runs in smaller towns, they were prepared for this. I was the most nervous I had been, but as always didn't let that show through. Rationally, I was sure things would be fine. There was no reason to expect anything bad, after all.

We split into two teams, Jesse leading Donald, Cynthia-Rose and Aubrey round the back. Chloe, Benji and I took the front, slowly creeping along the front wall until we reached the entrance. We were able to pry open the automatic doors which had long since given up the ghost, and then we were in. The first thing I noticed was the smell. It hung rancid and thick in the air, immediately clogging my throat. We all coughed and gagged as we filed in, pulling our shirts up to cover our noses. What was that? I struggled to retain my composure as we began to look closer at our surroundings. Everything was trashed. What shelves were left standing were bare, their contents piled on the floors below, trampled and shredded. Most shelves had been pushed over entirely and lay haphazardly across one another, covered in a thick layer of dust and a dark sludge.

"What happened in here?" whispered Benji, horrified. I shook my head.

"I don't know, but I don't like the look of it." He was leaning forwards now, trying to see if there was anything still worth taking.

"Benji-" I tried to call after him as he leant over one particularly high pile of cardboard boxes which claimed to contain canned soup. All of a sudden, it went crashing to the floor, sending up a thick cloud of dust which we all immediately turned away to shield ourselves from. The noise scared me, but that worry shot from my mind the moment I turned back and saw what lay underneath.

— Jesse —

We circled round back and quickly entered through the delivery door, with Cynthia-Rose picking the lock in record time. It was dark and dusty inside, and there was nothing that immediately caught my eye as being particularly useful. We picked our way slowly across a mountain of broken-down cardboard boxes, heading further into the back rooms of the store.

"Hey, check this out!" It was Donald, standing over near a big metal door fitted into the wall. I moved over to meet him, Aubrey and Cynthia-Rose close behind.

"I think this is their freezer room, and it sounds like it's still running!" He whispered excitedly. I leant in, and found that I too could hear the electric hum of power running somewhere behind the door. I grinned, catching his excitement.

"If there's food left in here and it's still frozen we might actually get some decent stuff out of this for the next few days!" I said quietly, the others eagerly agreeing. We tried the large handle and found it locked, so Cynthia-Rose set to work on it once again. It took her fractionally longer, but finally with a satisfying 'click', it was unlocked. I gestured to Donald to do the honours, and he quickly pulled back on the handled and heaved the huge door open. I poked my head inside, excitedly peering into the blue-green light that flickered into life. And then I gagged, and turned and stumbled backwards, knocking into Aubrey who had been trying to peer over my shoulder. We fell to the floor with a crash, knocking up a cloud of dust and dirt and startling the others, who rushed to pick us up and dust us off. My head was spinning, and I wasted no time in running for the back door. The others, confused, followed, trying to whisper urgent questions at my back as I ran. I couldn't say anything, I just ran. What I had just seen was worse than seeing my sister bleeding in that chair back in the hospital, and it scared me more. We were definitely not safe here. We had to get back and warn the others, then get the hell out of here as quickly as we possibly could.

— Chloe —

"Benji-" Beca called softly, but it was too late. The pile tipped over, and we all turned away from the dust. Coughing, I felt Beca turn back beside me, and then heard her gasp with horror. Before I could look up, I felt her hands on my arms, turning me back towards the door. I looked up to see her grab Benji by the back of his shirt and pull him with us, and suddenly we were pushing back out into the sunlight, coughing and confused. She let go of us, but carried on marching back over to the vehicles, and we jogged to catch up, totally bewildered by her behaviour.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, somewhat put out by being dragged out like that. She shook her head, her eyes fixed straight ahead and her hands clenched tightly at her sides. She'd seen something in there that had totally freaked her out, and it was freaking me out that she wouldn't say anything now.

"If you don't tell me right now what you saw in there, I'm gonna go back and take a look for myself-" I started, and she spun to face me, her eyes suddenly blazing.

"Chloe, please, trust me. You don't… you don't want to see that." She replied, her voice wavering ever so slightly. Benji and I exchanged a nervous glance.

"See what, Beca?"

"The bodies."


	23. Chapter 23

— Beca —

As I spoke, Chloe's face went from mildly resentful and confused to terrified. Benji paled, and took a step backwards, as if physically knocked off balance.

"The… bodies?" her voice was barely a whisper, and I sighed, casting my eyes downwards. When I looked up after those boxes fell, I'd seen them. The bodies of several people piled up underneath. But these people weren't infected, that much was clear from their permanent state of death alone. The thing that had chilled me to my core was that they bore no signs of being killed by infected either. It hadn't taken us all long to figure out that being bitten or scratched by an infected was what caused you to turn into one yourself, and these people…. most of them looked like they had been shot. I didn't stick around to look for too long. The moment I saw that I knew that we had to get out of here. Aubrey's plan to head into the wilderness was a good one, I had known all along, but now more than ever I wanted to enact it as swiftly as possible. It seemed like anywhere there were other people was dangerous now. I didn't stick around for long enough to decide whether those bodies were old or new, but I didn't really need to know. All that mattered was that people had been killed here by other people, and we didn't know if whoever did it was still around, and if we might be next. I tried to voice these thoughts to Chloe and Bejni, but emotion constricted my throat.

"There were murdered people in there, Chloe, covered up with all that crap. They weren't infected, they'd just been shot. I… I don't know when. It's just not safe here." We had started moving again, back towards the vehicles where Stacie and Amy watched us curiously from their respective vehicles. I signalled for them to start the engines running. I wanted that swift getaway we'd planned for. Looking over my shoulder now, I was relieved to see Jesse and his group behind us now, looking similarly frantic. I wondered what they'd seen, but assumed it was something equally horrifying to make them turn and leave immediately too. I was almost glad, because I had been imagining we might have to make an awkward drive-by round back to quickly pick them up. This way would be a lot easier. They were no more than 20 feet from us when we heard a sound that stopped us dead in our tracks. A shot rang out to our left, and we all ducked instinctively. Not wanting to be split up from Aubrey, Stacie had swapped me into the driver's seat of the car, and I stood half out of it now, with Chloe and Benji peering out of the windows behind me. In the cab of the truck, Stacie and Amy cringed as a second shot pinged off the roof of the truck's container. Gun in hand, I swivelled to face the direction I gauged the gunfire to be coming from, and tried desperately to find the source. Jesse and the others had finally reached the truck, and piled in the back. With a nod to Amy, I retreated back into the car with one final backwards glance, and we raced off, speeding out of the parking lot and back towards the highway. This time, we turned onto Route 28, which would start taking us North-West, out into the National parks. My eyes darted between the road ahead and the rear-view mirror. I was certain someone had to be following us. Why would someone take a couple of shots at us from some great distance then just let us drive away? I supposed they might just be a lousy shot, whoever they were, but something just didn't feel right. I felt like a wild animal being chased into a trap, unable to combat my panic enough to find my way to safety. But maybe that was silly. We were taking our own planned route, not just hurtling off in any old direction. Another look into the rear-view mirror. Nothing. Sweat was beading on my forehead. Chloe looking at me nervously, clearly sensing my agitation.

"We got away, there's nobody coming after us now." She said soothingly, placing a hand on my shoulder from the seat behind me. I caught her eye in the mirror, and she gave me an encouraging smile. I felt my foot relax slightly on the pedal, and some of the tightness left my chest. The needle on the speedometer pricked down a fraction. Maybe she was right. I was paranoid, and not for nothing after what we'd been through, but right now maybe there truly was no danger.

We continued travelling along the highway as it wend its way further West, finally pulling to a stop as the sun finally vanished from the sky. My hands shook a little as I turned the engine off, and I took one final glance in the mirror. Nothing.

We exited the car, and met with the others, who all wore similar expression of worry and exhaustion. I made my way over to Jesse, and pulled him into a hug.

"Beca-"

"It's okay. I saw it too." I felt him shake his head as he pulled away, searching my eyes desperately.

"No Becs, we found the freezer unit in the back. It was locked and the power was still on, so we got it open and inside… There were people in there Beca, cut up like cattle in a slaughterhouse." He whispered. My eyes widened. Cut up? Could this have been even worse than I had previously imagined? I had envisioned some kind of massacre, a cull maybe, of people sheltering there for refuge, or maybe looters following the initial virus fallout. But this…. if Jesse really had seen… that, it put a whole knew spin on it. Who would do something like that? And were they the same people that shot at us? A million questions raced through my mind. I forced myself to swallow them down for a moment. Jesse wasn't really up to talking about it right now, that I knew and understood perfectly. It was, all of it, awful.

"I saw… something similar out front." He looked away, his brow furrowing. I turned back to the others, now loosely gathered in semicircle behind us. By now, everyone had a vague idea of what we'd both seen. Panic coloured the air between us as the silence hung heavy, a millstone around my neck. Finally, Chloe spoke.

"What happened back there… It's horrible, I don't know what else to say about it. But it's behind us now. We need to rest tonight and carry on putting it further behind us tomorrow. We're close to the wilderness areas now, we can escape the worst of this soon if we just push a little bit further." The weight lifted slightly, and I shot her a grateful look. It was tiring being looked to for answers all the time. Sometimes I just wanted to listen. The others began to voice their agreement and encouragement, and we drifted apart again, each returning to a familiar motion, preparing our little convoy for the night. Part of me wanted to drive through the night, but I knew we needed to keep a look out for trails leading up into the forest now, and it would be impossible to do that in the dark. I had to keep suppressing my fear, just give in to reason and force myself to calm. Nobody wanted to light a fire tonight though, and we picked at few old granola bars between us. All of our minds kept turning back to what we'd just been in the midst of, and none of us could stomach much. Amy hadn't cracked a joke or made a daft remark for hours. It was an eery atmosphere to find myself in after the peace I'd been feeling so recently, and yet this constant state of turmoil in itself was familiar to me now. This was the downward spike I'd been anticipating, and I hated myself for predicting it. Not that I could have predicted exactly this. As we settled in for the night, I lay awake in the back seat with Chloe, my eyes fixed on nothing in the darkness. What would tomorrow bring?

— Bumper —

It hadn't been an easy few days, but then again, it hadn't been an easy few weeks. After miraculously coming across the very people I'd been hoping to find, I was swiftly cuffed and bundled into the back of their van, much to my annoyance.

"I can help you!" I spat, until they shut me up with a kick to the abdomen. I spent the ride back to the hospital in silent pain, rage coursing through me in equal measure. These guys were morons, just a pack of mindless brutes and scared kids. I needed to speak to the guy in charge, make him see I was an asset, not just bait for the infected. When we finally arrived at our destination, I risked a question.

"What are you gonna do with me now?" The captain chuckled, grabbing hold of my arm and yanking me out of the van and towards the main entrance.

"I've got someone who I reckon wants to speak with you." I suppressed a smile. Good. They dragged me, still handcuffed, up to the top floor of the hospital. There, I was pushed into a plastic chair in the hall and left alone. It was stiflingly hot up here, and I was quickly drenched in sweat. I assumed they were testing me, and stayed put. It wasn't like I wanted out of here anyway. I was exactly where I wanted to be. Finally, I heard a door swing open, and a man emerged at the far end of the hall. He was tall but well-muscled, and wore his greying hair cropped close to his scalp. There was something in his eyes that made me flinch inwardly as he looked me up and down, giving a disdainful snort and beckoning me towards him.

"Come on then, get your ass down here boy." I approached, and he pointed towards the door from which he had emerged. "In you go." So in I went. He followed close behind, and once inside what I took to be his office, I suddenly felt the handcuffs click open and my wrists fly free. He strode past me, and flopped into the large leather chair behind his desk. There was no hiding the fact that we were in a hospital by the general decor, but he'd not done a bad job of making this particular room into something more. Guns were stacked against the wall behind him, and crates of grenades stood beside them in turn. I could see baseball bats replete with nails, sections of pipe wrapped with barbed wire, crossbows, riot shields and tactical gear, and I knew there was more elsewhere. Was this a show of power, or did he really keep total control of all this gear? He smiled as he watched me take it all in, then we locked eyes again. He raised an eyebrow, and spread his hands.

"Well?" He spoke with a heavy southern accent, drawing out his words almost lazily. "What do you make of this side of the building? I'll bet it beats the basement." He was mocking me, but I fought the urge to rise to the bait.

"You're well stocked up, and I'm glad to see it." He looked mildly surprised, but still retained his air of amusement. He shrugged.

"Sounds like you've had a think about whose side you're on since you were last here. We never met, but I got to know a friend of yours pretty well. Interesting girl. Coulda really made something of her. Still, I'm surprised after all that to hear you're having a little change of heart. Then again, they told me you weren't made of much, only fit for bait." I bristled a little, but tried to meet his nonchalance. I leant back in my chair.

"That bitch was never any friend of mine. I'm here now because I want to be here, because I believe we share a common desire right now - revenge. Am I right?" He leant forward a little at this, clearly interested.

"Well well, you've certainly got a better set of balls on you than I had you figured for. Anyone would think you were in a position to bargain with me." He mused, and my blood ran cold as I realised how dangerously close I was to a horrible death if I couldn't pull this off. I carried on.

"You want her back so you can finish what you started, right? I'd happily bring her back here for what she did to me. You let me in as a real part of your organisation, and I'll help you to find her and all the others. There were more of them, you know. You can have them all." I swallowed, hoping that I'd said enough to persuade him. I hadn't really thought about what might happen if I had judged this incorrectly. The silence stretched out between us, and I felt sweat rolling down my back as I forced myself to remain perfectly still, seemingly unbothered. Finally he got to his feet, and extended a hand to me.

"I'll take you up on that." We shook, and I let my face relax into a true smile. My position was still fragile, and I knew I'd be in relative danger until I could truly prove my worth, but I'd got a foothold, and I wasn't going to let it crumble underneath me.


	24. Chapter 24

— Beca —

We were being watched. I could sense it as I started awake in the early hours of the morning, a cold sweat creeping across my skin. Chloe was lying pressed against me on the backseat, a familiar arrangement by now. Jesse, keeping watch from the front, turned to check on me.

"Hey." he whispered. I let out a breath.

"Something isn't right, Jesse." A flash of fear crossed his face, and then he relaxed.

"You were probably just having a nightmare, Becs. I've been watching since you got back there, nothing's happening out there." He turned away again, peering out of the windscreen into the darkness surrounding us. I strained my ears and heard nothing but the wind. Maybe he was right. But I couldn't shake the prickling feeling on the back of my neck, even as I buried my face into Chloe's chest, feeling the warmth take over me as she hummed and pulled me closer. I fell back into an uneasy sleep, and woke again at dawn feeling unrested and on edge. Once everyone was up, I took out the map and poured over it, hoping to see that we were close to a viable trail. It didn't seem like it, but with any luck it wouldn't take us more than a day of driving before we were into the forest. I hurried us along with our morning routine, and soon we were packed back into the vehicles and moving along the highway again. We could only have been driving for a few minutes when I saw something glinting through the trees alongside us out of the corner of my eye. Chloe was driving, Jesse dozing next to me in the back, and I quickly pressed my face up to the window, staring out. What the hell was that?

"You okay back there?" Chloe spoke without turning her head, ever the careful driver. I peeled my forehead off the window, wiping at the smudges of my breath.

"Sorry, yeah I thought I saw something." Then, something caught my eye again, this time a flash of light reflecting off of something just inside the trees. It was like something was moving alongside us. I tried to quell my rising panic and keep my voice steady.

"Hang on… I think there's something there…" I said, touching my forehead to the glass once more. It was so hard to make out anything properly through the layer of dust and grime coating the window. I pulled back, and started to wind it down. The influx of cool air woke Jesse, and he stared at me groggily.

"Whatcha doing that for?" He mumbled, sitting upright. I didn't answer, instead leaning my head slightly out to gaze across and into the trees. Maybe I was just going insane. It wouldn't surprise me, not after everything. If anything, it was surprising I hadn't cracked sooner. I stayed like that for a while, ignoring Jesse poking my back at regular intervals, trying to get me to pull my head back in. I was about to give up when I saw it. The unmistakable gleam of sunlight on metal. There was something following us. My stomach dropped to my feet, and I practically fell back inside in my haste, winding the window up frantically.

"What was that all about?" Jesse asked, worried now that he could see my expression.

"Something's following us. In the trees there, I kept seeing it. It's a car or something." He paled, and looked nervously over my shoulder and out of the window, as if he expected something to leap out an attack us any second. Chloe caught my eye in the rear-view mirror, similarly alarmed.

"Are you sure?" I nodded grimly, not daring to look again. I was certain of what I'd seen, and I knew it was bad. If this was the people from the Franklin Walmart, as I assumed it had to be, then we were in real trouble. The truck rumbled along behind us, and I wondered what to do next. I couldn't fathom why they were following us along the highway. Why not just attack us full-force back in Franklin? Or do so now? Maybe there were only one or two of them now, or maybe these people were somehow unrelated to what we'd seen in the store. There were a thousand possibilities, but none of them were putting me at ease. It just didn't make sense. I knew how to work with a predictable situation, even if it was sprung upon me. Like a fight. They happened fast, but I always knew exactly what to do, because people are predictable. Even now, the infected could be relied upon to follow the same habits as we had come to learn they would. But this… this was outside the norm, and I couldn't figure out what to do next. Chloe could see me thinking hard in the mirror, and spoke up.

"We should stop." I felt my eyebrows shoot up, incredulous. She sighed. "I'm serious Beca, if we're being followed, it's better we deal with it now, rather than lead whoever it is further towards where we're headed." It made sense. The logic of the situation jumped out at me, and i felt a wave of mild relief as I rose up to meet it.

"You're right, of course. Let me just dig out some spare ammo from the bag and we can pull up." I replied, beginning to rifle through the big rucksack for the inner pocket housing my stash of ammunition. Jesse watched me nervously, pulling the shotgun into his lap.

"Are you sure about this? We don't know what we're getting into here, who we're facing or how many there are." He said. I refused to look up, knowing that I wasn't yet determined enough to meet his gaze.

"I'm sure. Chloe's right, if we don't face them now we'll only have to do it later, when we're closer to where we're trying to go to hide from people just like this. There's no way for us to lose them right now." He bowed his head, knowing I was right but similarly sharing my apprehension at facing the unknown. It wasn't an easy call. Thankfully Chloe seemed resolute now, her unwavering gaze fixed on the road ahead, no trace of worry on her face. I risked a glance out of my window - nothing, but my feeling of dread remained, and I knew it was merely wishful thinking to imagine we were suddenly alone again.

This might be the one time in my life I'd rather be crazy.

Slowly, Chloe began to break, and the truck behind us followed suit until we had both reached a stop. I quickly motioned for Aubrey to stay in the cab and leave the engine running as Jesse and I clambered out of the car, clutching our guns. Better to be ready for another quick getaway. The heat outside the car was striking, the tarmac already burning at the soles of my shoes. I wiped a hand across my forehead, blinking profusely as I tried once again to peer through the thick layers of undergrowth and trees running alongside the highway. The only sound was the slow rumble of the two engines, and crickets chirping in the distance. The silence pressed down on me as hard as the sun, making my head spin. Jesse was shuffling his feet nervously as he too scanned our surroundings. I could now hear hushed voices from the back of the truck, wondering what was happening. I forced myself to focus. And then, the silence was snapped in two by a loud 'CRACK' coming from the woodland adjacent to us. I wasted no time in raising my gun and aiming directly at the source of the sound as I began to move forward. Suddenly, a shot rang out from behind me, glancing off of the pavement next to me milliseconds later. I spun around. Another shot, this time ahead of us and to the right, buried itself in the side of the car. Chloe shrank down into her seat, and I scrambled to decide how to use cover. It felt like we were surrounded. By now, the others in the back of the truck had clearly had enough of waiting to find out what the commotion was, and they began to pile out led by Amy. She squinted out into the dazzling sunlight, barely flinching as a bullet immediately flew past her head.

"Blimey!" She jumped down, and hefted her wrench into the air. "COME AND GET IT THEN!" she roared, waving her arms madly. I stared at her in disbelief. Only Amy could stand up like that in the face of near-certain death. You couldn't deny it was effective though. There was a pause in the shots, and with that the rest of the group was out and stood with us, Chloe at my back with a fierce look in her eye. There was something so powerful about this group of people, and I couldn't help but smile as I caught Amy's eye and she let out another great bellow. I found myself, along with everyone else, joining in. It felt kind of good to just let go after everything. Figures began to materialise at the edge of the trees. I could count maybe seven or eight of them, a few of them weighed down with enormous machine guns. It reminded me of something, but I wasn't in the right frame of mind to think on that now. I noticed that one of them had a rifle, and was aiming for another shot, right at me. I started to duck when I noticed that the barrel of the gun was shaking wildly, despite the person's attempts to keep it under control. When they finally fired, the shot went wide over our heads, and we cheered uproariously. The sheer madness of it all coupled with the intense release of pressure was making me giddy. I fired a shot in return now I had targets, and only barely missed, causing the figure to drop the rifle and back away swiftly. Who were these people? It seemed odd to me that the same people who had somehow ruthlessly executed a large group of people in a Walmart near Franklin and then gone on to butcher their corpses were now having such a hard time hitting the extremely large target our group was currently providing them with. It just didn't add up. And then one of the figures stepped forwards again, and it hit me. We were still within reach of the hospital, that much was clear, for standing in front of me now was another teenager, confused and scared and clutching a gun they clearly had no idea how to use, nor the desire to do so. I suddenly didn't know what to do again. I couldn't shoot these kids, they clearly weren't doing this of their own volition, plus they really were just kids. This was insane. I looked around at my group, all similarly stunned. Even Amy had stopped her war cries. I knew there was more to it though. I scanned the figures, searching for their leader. Somewhere here was an adult who really was going to face some kind of reckoning for this. I heard another shot ring out from the left of me, and turned, expecting to see the bullet bounce off of the pavement nearby. Slowly, a hot pain began to burn its way through my left leg, and I fell involuntarily to my knees. What was happening? I looked down, only to see a pool of blood steadily growing around me. Oh great. This again. I looked up again just in time to see a man emerge from the bushes, and without hesitation I raised my gun and fired 3 shots in quick succession. In no time at all, he too hit the ground. I didn't need to keep looking to know I'd hit my marks - head, heart, lower abdomen. The kid soldiers suddenly scattered, and I heard car doors slam and an engine rev and race off into the distance. I was gratified to note that they didn't even bother trying to check on their commander, and it looked like they'd all dropped their guns too. I hoped they would be able to find their own freedom now. Everyone was stood around me in shock, even Chloe, still trying to catch up with what had just happened. Benji was the first to move, pulling me to my feet and throwing me over his shoulder with surprising ease.

"Jesse, come with me. You know what we have to do now." He spoke briskly, and through the white noise of the pain radiating out from my thigh, I realised fully what was happening with me. I'd just been shot. I hadn't even registered it at the time, instead reacting instinctively to take down the threat, then to assess the remaining situation. How crazy. In another life, one where I enjoyed being told what to do, I'd probably have made an amazing secret agent. Thoughts like this swirled and muddled in my head. The screaming of the cicadas seemed to be growing louder, the heat from the sun almost pushing me physically into the ground where I lay, with Jesse and Benji leaning over me. I decided I didn't need to be present for what was coming, and with that, everything finally faded out to black.

— Chloe —

I'd come a long way. In truth, watching Beca get shot was never going to match the utter terror I'd felt when we found her in the hospital, and I found myself now remaining surprisingly calm as Jesse and Benji whisked her away to remove the bullet. I began to take charge, and the others seemed glad of being told what to do next. I got them to gather up the discarded weapons and search for anything else beyond the trees that might have been left whilst I made my way over to the dead man stretched out on the tarmac. His eyes were glazed over, but his mouth remained fixed in a slimy smile, still laughing about what he'd managed to do to one of us. I wrestled his rifle from his stiffening grip, and did a quick search of his pockets, taking anything I thought could prove useful. In fact, he didn't have as much on him as I had hoped. I could hear Jesse and Benji speaking in low voices back by the truck, and I quickly got to my feet and started back over towards them. What was I doing, scavenging odd items from a corpse while my partner was shot and having a bullet pulled out of her leg? I broke into a jog, arriving back just as they triumphantly held up a fully intact bullet to the light.

"Once again, the odds went in our favour." Benji sighed, relieved. I put a hand to Beca's cheek, feeling the full force of my worry creep up on me all at once now I had evaded my self-governed distractions.

"Is it going to heal okay?" I asked, and he nodded, seeming calm.

"Again, she's lucky. Injuries to the thigh can hit major blood vessels, but the placement of the shot and the fact that the bullet didn't break up at all mean she should be fine. She might have some muscle damage, but the only way to remedy that would be actual surgery. We'll just have to force her to take it easy for the next couple weeks, that's the best we can do." Jesse and I shared a look of giddy disbelief. I glanced back at the steadily darkening puddle of blood back over between the two vehicles where it had happened.

"Did she… does she need blood or anything?" I asked, biting my lip nervously. Benji shook his head, threading a thin needle that he had produced from a sterile pack within the first aid kit.

"She should be fine, I'm going to stitch it now and after that we still have some fluids left over that we could give her if she needs, but she's got off lightly with this one so I'm not anticipating that." Whenever Benji was treating somebody or speaking about medicine, he gained this cool kind of composure which steadied his voice, gave him a confident glow. I was so glad we had him with us on this trip. Watching him now, carefully instructing Jesse on how to stitch up Beca's wound, I was suddenly overcome with a flood of emotion and turned away. Some days felt like too much, some like nothing at all. Right now, I looked on as my little found-family came together, collecting up supplies and talking, and I felt everything. Tears slid silently down my cheeks as Amy caught my eye and without saying anything, came over and wrapped me into a crushing hug. I had to believe that we could all make it through this together, and looking at us now, unified, I truly could start to see into that future.


	25. Chapter 25

— Bumper —

I woke before dawn to the sound of shouts on the floor above. I grunted, rolling over to reach for the bottled water by my bed. After striking my deal with the man in charge, the one they referred to simply as 'the General', I had been shown to my quarters. I was deemed either too much of a risk or too much of a big deal to simply share the large dormitory-style ward with the regular recruits. I chose to believe it was the latter, though the thought of posing a risk to them in any way was almost equally satisfying. I spent the first couple of days wandering the halls, followed closely by a young kid who'd been assigned to watch me and make sure I didn't poke my nose in anywhere I shouldn't. I restrained my curiosity, wanting to keep up my air of nonchalance and ease. It was important that I act like I knew I was hot shit, if that was how I wanted everyone to see me. It seemed to be working on the recruits, who all avoided my glares as we passed in the halls. Hopefully soon enough I'll be one of your commanding officers, giving you orders. Imagining the power I would soon hold was enough to keep me to my little facade. After a few days of this, however, I was starting to get bored. I hadn't spoken to anyone more senior than a 20-something lieutenant in charge of the dining hall since I had arrived, and I was desperate for information, progress, anything. The shouting coming through my ceiling this morning, however, seemed promising. My room was situated on the floor above the recruit's large open wards, and I knew that in turn the floor above me held the individual ward rooms which housed the officers. I couldn't discern who was speaking now, but he was angry.

"-a whole outfit of weaponry, and the sergeant!" the voice barked, and I heard footsteps begin pacing.

"Yes sir." the response was quieter, deferential. Clearly whoever was above me was receiving some bad news right now. I wondered if I could take advantage of this moment, finally set some wheels in motion. I quickly rolled out of bed and threw on the rough khaki shirt and pants they'd provided me with when I arrived, as well as a pair of worn military boots, one size too large. With no time to lose, I opened my door a crack, and was relieved to see that my usual escort was nowhere in sight. That meant that some time in the last couple of days they'd stopped assigning someone to my door overnight. Clearly, my laid back attitude was convincing. I slipped out quietly into the hall and darted towards the stairwell, pausing only to check that nobody was on watch anywhere. Nothing. I ascended the stairs as quietly as I could manage, my feet threatening to trip on the overly-long ends of my boots with every step. Finally, I made it to the floor above, and was relieved to see that the hallway too was empty. Thankfully, nobody besides myself and the man I was hoping to intercept had awoken before role call at dawn. I counted the doorways along the hall as I walked, praying that the hospital layout was gridded and even. In fact, I didn't have to worry about that, as suddenly a door swung open just ahead of me and two men strode out, the larger of the two with his face set in a grimace. We all stopped dead in our tracks, staring at each other, unsure of what to do next. This was a man I'd not yet seen, clearly high-ranking, and irritated by my presence here.

"What are you doing here?" He growled, the man behind him fidgeting with his sleeves.

"I couldn't help but overhear-"

"Get lost, this floor is off-limits to the likes of you." He'd lost interest, and with that barged roughly past me, the other man following close on his heels. I stayed where I was, battling my own rage. I was done biding my time and being treated like I was nothing but an inconvenience, a prisoner. Clenching my jaw, I turned and walked slowly back towards the stairwell. The two men were noisily ascending the stairs above me, and I could hear that they were headed up the final two floors, to the top where the General was to be found. I steeled myself, and followed, as silently as I could manage. By the time I reached the final staircase up to the General's floor, I could hear them rapping on his door briskly, then the door swinging open and their footsteps receding inside. The door closed firmly. I sensed my chance, and quickly ran the last few steps, scurrying over to crouch beside the door. So long as nobody else came up those stairs, and the men in the office didn't leave too suddenly, I would be able to sit here and listen. I had a feeling what they were about to discuss would be all too valuable to me.

— Beca —

When I awoke, dusk was setting in. I ached all over again. I realised I was alone in the back seat of the car, bundled up in blankets with the far door open to allow room for my outstretched legs. I sat up slowly, groaning slightly as the stiffness in my back made itself known. I began to regain fragments of memory, suddenly noticing a jab of pain in my left thigh. Wincing, I pushed back the various garments draped over me, and gingerly touched my finger to the substantial new tear in my jeans, revealing a small mass of stitches underneath. All of a sudden, the door behind me opened, and I leant back to see Chloe's beaming face smiling down on me. I sighed happily at the sight of her, lying back on the seat again.

"Well look who's awake." She mused, leaning down as she did so until her face was hovering over mine.

"You always let me sleep in, it's one of the many things I love about you." I whispered, and she laughed, kissing me on the forehead before drawing away.

"If you feel up to it, we're eating some of the mystery cans tonight and Amy says she's got a special prize for anyone who can correctly guess their food before they open it. Not that I'm certain that's necessarily an incentive, but should be fun!" She said, winking. I snorted, sitting up again and shuffling myself towards the open door at my feet.

"A special prize? Yeah I don't know if my body is ready for whatever that means tonight." I smiled again as she materialised in front of me this time, offering her hands to help me out. Soon, I was standing on one leg outside of the car leaning heavily against her, and I couldn't say I was mad about the excuse to do so. Together we made out way over to the fire, where the others cheered softly at my approach, watching me flop down into the gap in their circle. I relented, giving them a little mock bow which had Amy snorting with laughter.

"To our pirate captain!" she crowed, raising her unlabelled can of food into the air. Everyone followed suit, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Pirate captain?" Amy gestured to my injured leg as if it were altogether too obvious.

"You know, one-legged fearless leader, that kinda vibe. It made sense to me, anyway CHEERS!" Everyone clinked their cans, and I leant into Chloe as we laughed. Thankfully nobody won Amy's mystery can prize that night, but she was keen to assure us that her prize would be available when somebody finally did. The highs and lows of our life were so extreme now. It was so surreal to be feeling such peace yet again, so soon after the encounter we'd just had. Of course, fear and worry still burned somewhere at the back of my throat, and I couldn't prevent myself from asking for the details of what had happened between then and now. The others filled me in obligingly.

"We collected up all their weapons for a start, we've got 3 heavy machine guns, 2 rifles and 4 pistols now. They're all fully loaded but we'll need to do a supply run for ammunition if we want to be able to keep them long term." Jesse began, and I nodded thoughtfully. It was useful to finally be able to arm the others with guns, although I had my worries too. The machine guns were probably least useful to us, as they were unwieldy and someone unfamiliar with guns would be prone to expending a full clip into one target to make up for the difficulty of aiming with accuracy. The rifles and pistols I could work with. I reckoned I could train Donald and Aubrey to use the rifles for slightly longer range, and Chloe, Amy, Benji and Stacie could easily use the pistols. Even Stacie's shoulder injury wouldn't factor in too much if she could master using the weapon single-handed. Jesse continued.

"We didn't find much else, just a few bits and bobs like a lighter and a more detailed map of the area. We figure they must've been trailing us since we got onto the highway, probably just picking up where the other unit whose tyres you shot out left off." I nodded again, thinking back to the mystery of the shots fired by the Franklin Walmart.

"Maybe one of the kids tried to take a shot while we were in the parking lot, it's no wonder they missed." I muttered, and Chloe shrugged beside me.

"We thought the same. Either way, we think we're probably safe now. Those kids didn't really seem that interested in following through, we all think they probably ran off instead of heading back to the hospital." She said, and the others mumbled agreement. My brow furrowed. It wasn't that I didn't agree, but I was beginning to think I'd underestimated both the scale of the operation to find us and the tenacity of the man behind it.

"I think you're all probably right, but we still need to get off this highway as soon as possible, just in case."

"Oh agreed, I think we'll all feel far safer once we get out of the open and off the map a little." Aubrey piped up, and I could see she was right. We were elated tonight, triumphant, but nobody had lost their sense of fear. I was glad, in a way. It was safer for us to stay alert for just a bit longer.

"Can I see the new map?" I asked, and Aubrey handed it over to me. I shuffled slightly closer to the small fire, trying to read it in the dim light. It was no good, so I handed it back with a sigh.

"Never mind, we can take another look tomorrow." I said, and Aubrey nodded. Soon we were all ready to move further down the road for the night. Jesse offered to take first watch in the car, but I waved him off, climbing awkwardly into the driver's seat.

"It's not like i need both feet to drive, besides I just slept. Get some rest." He shrugged, and got into the back, taking the pack with him into the back seat so that Chloe could sit up front with me. I shot him a smile in thanks. We liked to double up our watch shifts to spend time together, but there was no way she could squash onto my lap right now.

"Oh man, I should've done this way sooner, this thing is like a mega pillow!" Jesse mumbled, and soon he was snoring into the side of the pack. I laughed quietly, settling down into my seat as Chloe reached out and interlaced our fingers over the gearshift.

"We're almost there." She whispered, and I closed my eyes for a second, picturing once again the ultimate safe haven where Chloe and I could live our lives out as a normal couple. Bringing her coffee in the morning as she moved straight from our bed to a desk, scribbling down last night's dream and a few stray thoughts into a writing journal. Sitting around a small kitchen table, debating what takeout to order. Settling down to watch trashy films on a beat up couch, maybe with a little dog or cat playing at our feet, scratching up my favourite shoes. Sometimes I ached with longing for those little mundanities. They seemed like an eternity away now. I opened my eyes again to see her watching me, sadness in her eyes. We leant in towards each other, afraid to let go. I knew she was thinking the same things, and together we mourned our lost life, although I couldn't help but celebrate what we had managed to cling onto. In-amongst the chaos, we were holding onto each other for dear life, and we wouldn't let go for anything.


	26. Chapter 26

— Bumper —

I just managed to make it back to my room without encountering anyone and leapt back onto my bed, throwing off my boots and shirt. Moments later, shouts went up from the wards below, and I knew it was the official time to wake up. Not wanting to deviate from my previous show of character, I waited until someone rapped loudly on my door to actually start moving around, putting my clothes and boots back on slowly and noisily. I was just lacing my boots as tightly as I could manage when the door suddenly crashed open, and I was dragged to my feet by the front of my shirt. To my surprise, the General himself was stood inches away from me, lifting me into the air. I wheezed uncomfortably, and he seemed to collect himself momentarily, throwing me back down onto the bed and stepping back.

"Your little crew has proved trouble for me again and again." He spat. Gone was the drawling man in control I'd met a few days earlier. In his place stood a monument to rage, his fury radiating from him with an almost perceptible heat. This was the man who had tortured Beca, I could see it now. We both walked around wearing masks, his was just covering something even more sinister than I could have anticipated. I suppressed a shudder as he turned his fearsome gaze to me, scowling.

"One of my best men is gone, and we nearly lost a whole batch of recruits too, not to mention a van." I thought back to what I'd heard moments earlier outside his office door. From the other officer's account, a bunch of recruits driving one of their vans had been picked up by another patrol near the state border with North Carolina. The terrified kids had originally been part of a search detail sent to locate and track my old group, with the ultimate goal of locating their permanent camp so that the General himself could be party to their capture and demise. That made sense to me. He was important so he couldn't go off constantly himself, wandering around the countryside searching for one girl. But, he couldn't bear to let anybody else have the honour of capturing her, or killing her. I understood that perfectly well. It transpired that by their account, Beca herself had shot the sergeant in charge of that unit, and the kids had fled, leaving behind all their weapons. The General had flown into a rage at this news, and I had decided I'd heard enough. Now, I was witnessing this rage close up, and it was intimidating to say the least. But how was I going to use that information to my advantage? I had to use it somehow. I had no real leverage otherwise, not knowing where they were headed. I had been surprised to hear that they had passed into another state, having relied entirely on the assumption that they would still be in the warehouse by the time I could get people out to search for them. Still, maybe if I could think quickly enough now…

"Now's your chance to prove your use to me, if indeed you serve any purpose here at all. Tell me where they're headed and where they're going to make camp." He growled, looming over me. The wheels in my brain began to turn, and I started to speak the words as soon as they appeared in my mind, not able to spare the time it would take to think them over.

"They're on Route 23, right? Heading into North Carolina?" I started, trying to sound confident even in the face of such tangible aggression. He looked surprised at that, and leant back a little.

Thank god I went and listened in or I'd be dead now. I carried on, bolstered by this, and trying to picture a map in my head. It came to me.

"They're heading further north, towards the mountains." He began to pace up and down, clearly considering this offering. It made sense. After our encounter here, it was hard to imagine that the group would be keen to try their luck with another big town, let alone any of the cities they could've otherwise been heading for. The only place I could see them going was into the National parks, into the wilderness. Either that or they were just going to keep going up the country, but again, I doubted they had it in them to keep up that kind of momentum. We'd all been ready to rest when we reached the warehouse, and enough time had passed since then with enough encounters on their part that I knew my guess was good. Clearly it was good enough to convince the General too, as his expression began to ease into one of thoughtful calm.

"And you're sure?" He mused. I nodded firmly. I'd already almost forgotten that I'd just guessed all this, feeling so strongly that I had to be right. He pulled me to my feet again, this time by my arm, and gestured that I follow him.

"Then let's get going. It's time we end this." Could this really be it, my dream of revenge coming to fruition? It all had worked out as well as I could've reasonably hoped, and now I was being taken to watch it happen. I allowed myself a small, victorious smile as we exited my cramped little room. I didn't bother looking back.

— Beca —

The following morning, we all stood around the map, trying to figure out a route. We had already started heading West now, and I traced my finger along the blue lines of Fontana Lake, snaking up towards the Dam where it became the Little Tennessee River.

"I think our best bet is to get north of the lake and travel further in from there." I said, thinking aloud. "I don't know how the infected interact with water really but I'd like to imagine they wouldn't swim across a lake or river. As for the hospital group, anything we can throw between us and them is good in my book." The others agreed.

"What about the vehicles?" Donald asked, frowning at the map. "How are we gonna get them across and up into that kind of terrain?" I gave a small sigh.

"I know. We could probably drive them over the Dam, but unfortunately I think it's pretty clear that we'd have to abandon them to get properly into the wilderness. The truck especially would never make it through, and we'll travel more subtly that way." I replied. Everyone looked uncomfortable at that, and I felt it too. We'd grown accustomed to the feeling of safety provided by the car and the truck. They were more likely to draw attention from infected and other people sure, but thinking about abandoning them entirely to travel on foot, sleeping entirely exposed at night… it wasn't a pleasant thought. But I was growing more and more certain that it was the only way. Thoughts of terrain and infected aside, I knew that we weren't out of danger from the hospital group yet, and travelling quietly and out of sight into the thick forest was the only way I could see us escaping them, bar continuing on and through to an entirely different part of the country. I'd considered that too of course, but honestly the only long-term plan that seemed to stick in my mind involved reaching the wilderness. We were only going to find more of the same anywhere we travelled. There would always be more infected, more people doing terrible things. The only thing that made sense was to retreat, fall off the map, and put down subtle roots somewhere nobody could find us. I knew the others understood, but it was nonetheless a bitter pill to swallow.

"Damn, she is right." Cynthia-Rose grimaced, and there was a murmur of assent. I ploughed ahead.

"Okay, in that case let's keep heading up Route 28 towards Fontana Dam. Once we get closer, I vote we abandon the vehicles and cover the rest of the way to the Dam on foot. That way it'll be a little less obvious that we've crossed it and headed that way." Everyone agreed, and so we gathered ourselves up and set off. It shouldn't take more than a few hours to get up by the Dam at our current pace, and I felt like the end was in sight. I'd felt like we'd been running from something ever since we left the hospital, and even though we wouldn't ever out from the threat of the infected, it would be good to shake the feeling of having this particular danger at my heels. We trundled down the highway, making light conversation in the car. In the wing-mirror, I could see Amy and Cynthia-Rose laughing uproariously in cab of the truck. Things felt hopeful. I exhaled, sending up a silent prayer to whoever might be up there to hear it: please.

— Bumper —

It felt good to be back out on the road, this time in a bulky van packed with soldiers and weapons. I felt strangely free, although I knew technically I wasn't. Still, it was definitely a welcome relief to be travelling in safety. We had set out almost immediately from the hospital, the General rounding up what I gauged to be about 80% of the military inhabitants. We all bundled into the fleet of vans waiting in the hospital parking lot, leaving behind a skeleton crew to watch over their base and keep an eye on their civilian inhabitants. And prisoners, I thought with a touch of bitterness. In total, we filled five vans, each containing five soldiers and officers. At the head of the fleet, the General and his right-hand man, a stiff-lipped Sergeant called Pearson, set a quick pace, and we followed dutifully behind. As we raced towards the highway I tried to control my excitement. It was almost unbelievable that I'd managed to pull this off. I couldn't help but imagine the look on their faces when they saw me. It was going to be almost as sweet as what would surely follow. Feet to the floor, we were soon bombing up Route 28 in no time, headed towards the state border. We had a destination and fast vehicles, and we weren't slowed down by the need to stop for supplies or anything like that, so I knew we'd catch up with them quickly. I couldn't take my eyes off the road ahead, watching as we ate up mile after mile and drew ever closer. It was easy to forget that there was no guarantee I had guessed their plan and approximate location correctly, but I was too excited to dwell on that now. I was thinking about what cool line I would say when they all saw me, when we suddenly screeched to a halt, many hours of driving later. Their vehicles, stopped dead in the road ahead of us and empty. My heart leapt, and I rose to my feet eagerly. This was it.


	27. Chapter 27

— Beca —

We abandoned the vehicles a few miles out from the Fontana Dam, leaving them by the entrance to a dirt track that led South. I hoped this would convince anyone who might come across them that we'd taken that trail in the direction of Yellow Creek. Then, we continued on foot, heading into the forest off the side of the highway in the direction of the Dam. The only issue with this brilliant plan was my new wound, which made it hard for me to keep pace with everyone. Chloe was at my side, of course, helping me along, but it was slow progress, and anxiety and frustration gnawed at my insides. Finally, however, the great Dam loomed up ahead, and we breathed a collective sigh of relief. We stopped briefly for a rest, but the afternoon was getting on and I was keen to cross the Dam before nightfall. I would feel safer on the other side. So, setting off again, we carefully approached the Dam itself, looking in wonder at the river way down below on the opposite side. The lake, to our right, was enormous, and I was glad of an easy way to cross it. Once on the other side, we could take any number of ways further into the wilderness. It was eerily quiet, but I was relieved that we'd see no sign of any infected in the area. We'd been remarkably lucky since starting on our journey out of Georgia in fact, which bode well for our long-term plan. As the sun began to sink down over the river, we began to cross the Dam. It wasn't too far across, and I guessed at our pace we could be on the other side in about 15 minutes. We were so close. It was then that I heard a sound from behind us that made my heart sink and my pulse jump frantically. Engines, roaring up to meet us. I wasted no time, realising there was no time to think, only to act.

"RUN! GET TO THE OTHER SIDE!" I screamed, drawing my gun from my belt. I felt panicked. We all had guns now, sure, but I'd had no time yet to teach anybody how to use them. Chloe had picked up a little in our time together, and I knew that Aubrey had been hunting before with family, but that wasn't really enough to comfort me right now. I forced myself to allow my full weight to shift onto my injured leg, gritting my teeth against the pain and starting a limping run. Chloe, at my side, tried her best to speed up and keep supporting me, but it was slow progress. We were about halfway across before I glanced back, just in time to duck as a shot was fired towards me. Almost instinctively, I fired back, relieved to hear a cry of pain as my bullet found its mark.

"Beca, I'm sorry but it's no good!" Chloe panted, finally letting go of my arm. I opened my mouth to question what she meant when all of a sudden I was in the air and over her shoulder, and she was taking off at a laboured run. I was gobsmacked, but quickly recovered now I could see the threat piling up behind us. I counted five dark vans, each spilling several soldiers out onto the concrete behind us. I noticed one soldier retreating into one of these vehicles, clutching his arm, and I took a second to enjoy the small victory. Still, there were a lot more of them, and at their head, a man I recognised all too well, his mouth wide in an awful grin. He was instructing them to lower their guns and instead mount a pursuit on foot. It was clear that he wanted to have the pleasure of killing us himself. I steeled myself, and began firing from my precarious position over Chloe's shoulder. It was almost impossible to keep myself upright and steady enough to aim, never mind that the targets were moving as I did. I gave up, deciding to save the ammunition, and then suddenly we were falling. We had just reached the end of the dam, and spilled out onto a dirt track, tumbling across the rocks painfully. The others ahead of us had reached the cover of the trees, and turned back now in dismay. I could see our enemies were closing in now, bearing down on us. I scrambled upright, firing another shot. I looked on as it grazed the flesh of my torturer's upper arm, finding it's way into the chest of the man closest behind him, who dropped instantly. The soldiers skidded to a stop as the rest of our group began firing haphazardly from the trees, Jesse and Donald suddenly next to Chloe and I and dragging us up and backwards through the dirt. The soldiers were passing something forward now, and I realised they had an array of riot shields., some patched heavily with corrugated metal. They each grabbed hold of a shield and began to move forward again, feeling confident in their defence. I swore, reloading my gun and taking aim at any weak spots I could find. Shooting into gaps and at the edges, I felt a modicum of relief as four or five more soldiers dropped, crying out in pain and incapacitated. The man I truly feared kept advancing however, and I fought down my rising terror. Suddenly, from behind me I heard an all-too familiar cry as Amy stepped out from behind a tree, brandishing one of the machine guns we'd picked up from our last encounter. We'd ended up only keeping one, as I'd assessed they would be worth very little to us. But now, in the hands of this veritable madwoman, it became our saving grace as she unloaded it wildly into the cluster of soldiers still approaching. They dropped like flies, the heavy bullets stripping straight through their shields. Suddenly, I spotted another familiar figure towards the back, looking fearful. Bumper? I couldn't believe my eyes. He noticed me seconds later, and his expression changed, fixing into a mask of hatred and contempt. He pushed forwards, grabbing a pistol from the hand of a dead soldier. What in the hell was he doing here?

— Bumper —

We hurried out of the vans, and I could see up ahead that the group was about halfway across the Dam. Was that Beca at the back? It had to be, I could see Chloe was at her side, her fiery red hair a dead giveaway. I was elated. We'd found them. After finding their vehicles a little way down the road, I'd known immediately it was a fake-out. I relayed that to the officer in my van, who conveyed it over to the General via walkie talkie. I'd spotted a sign for Fontana Dam a little way back and knew it was our best bet, and here I was being proven right for a second time. It felt good. Beca took a shot towards us, and I saw a soldier just ahead of me fall back, clutching at his arm. Was she limping? She looked injured. I was glad. I stuck to the back of the group as we pressed forwards, beginning the chase along the Dam. I wasn't armoured like the rest of the soldiers, and I hadn't been given a weapon. It stung a little that they still weren't trusting me fully, but I was also glad of the excuse to keep out of immediate danger. It wasn't until one of the group brought out a machine gun and started tearing through the wall of bodies in front of me that I saw her, Beca, stood just a little way off now on the dirt track on the other side of the dam. Something snapped back into focus within me, and my fear vanished. Stepping over the fallen soldiers at my feet, I grabbed the nearest pistol and raised it, copying her stance. I wasn't familiar with guns, but this was my best chance at exacting the revenge I so dearly craved. The one thing I hadn't counted on was the extent to which the General shared this exact desire. I pushed forward, and squeezed the trigger, grunting as the gun recoiled in my hand. The shot went wide, burying itself in a tree and I cursed, readying myself to shoot again. All of a sudden, my weight was swept from under me as the General spun and tackled me to the ground. The pistol went clattering across the concrete, just out of reach. His hands were already at my throat, throttling me. He was furious.

"She's MINE you sack of shit, MINE!" My vision was spotting. Was I really about to die like this, when I was so close to accomplishing my goal? I clawed weakly at his hands, unable to break his grip. Around us, shots pinged off of the shields held up by the remaining soldiers, who were watching on in shock. I had been so close. Just as the ringing in my ears grew deafening, I heard a dull thud, and something warm splattered across my face. The General's hands loosened as he fell sideways, grimacing, and I choked in sweet air once more. A bullet had found its way into his back as he'd strangled me, and now he turned back to the group, his right arm hanging useless by his side. He raised his pistol awkwardly in his left hand, and fired, missing by an inch. I began to shuffle slowly towards my fallen gun, a new plan forming in my mind. If the General insisted on it being me or him to take out our shared enemy, then I would have to take him out first. Soldiers continued to fall behind me, some even turning and running back to the safety of the vans. I stretched further and further, my fingers finally closing around the grip of the pistol. I swept it up, pushing myself to my feet and taking aim, this time at the back of the General's head. One of the remaining officers cried out, and I watched in frustration as he spun round again, his eyes registering my weapon pointed at him with fury.

"I knew you were nothing but a weasel." He spat, lunging towards me, his good arm extended outwards. I yelled, firing wildly, as he ploughed into me, and we staggered backwards towards the edge of the Dam. Hundreds of feet below, a tiny river wended its way west. I struggled to regain my balance, but suddenly the large body of the General became pure dead weight, falling full-force against me, and I realised in horror that my shots done their job, hitting him point blank in his chest and stomach. As his body collapsed against me, I made one last effort to free myself from behind his great weight, but it was no good. With a rush of final adrenaline, we tipped steadily backwards, and over the edge.


	28. Chapter 28

— Beca —

I watched with a mixture of shock and awe as Bumper fought with my torturer. It was clear to me that they were both desperate to be the one to kill me, so much so that it was driving them to madness. I thought it was over the moment he got his hands around Bumper's throat, and I took the opportunity to fire at his back, hitting him just on his right shoulder-blade. He turned almost immediately, firing quickly with a gun now in his left hand, his right dangling at his side. The shot missed, and I ducked momentarily before firing again. What seemed like mere seconds later, Bumper was standing again, this time aiming his gun at the man from behind, a determined look on his face. He was going to kill him just so he could then kill me? One of the remaining soldiers behind them gave a shout, and the man spun again, confronting Bumper head on. After that, it really was over, and fast. As he leapt forward I heard several shots, muffled by the man's body, and he fell right through the motion, slumping unconscious onto Bumper, who stumbled back. These last few moments seemed to stretch out impossibly, and then all at once they were falling, backwards over the edge of the Dam and down, hundreds of feet to the craggy shore of the river below. I couldn't believe it. The shooting stopped on both sides as we stared in astonishment at the space where our two enemies had just been stood, now empty. The remaining soldiers decided that they had no reason to stick around now that their leader was dead, and they turned and retreated back to the vans. My friends beside me half-heartedly raised their weapons as they retreated, but I quickly waved them down. It was over.

"Was that… the guy we had to leave behind?" Cynthia-Rose asked quietly. I nodded. It was surreal. We waited until the vans had disappeared from sight before emerging fully from behind the trees. The Dam was littered with bodies of the soldiers we'd struck down. I felt sick, looking at their faces. Thankfully most of the dead seemed to be the adult commanders. It was a small mercy - at least I could assume that they knew and consented to what they had been doing. Chloe took my hand, squeezing it encouragingly. Everyone was in a state of shock. It was one thing to have had to banish Bumper from our group, but seeing him die, right in front of us… that was something else. I could hardly get my head around it. I peered cautiously over the edge. Thankfully, dusk was fast approaching, and I couldn't make out more than a pair of vague forms lying all that way down by the river. It really was over. Nobody spoke as we gathered what ammunition we could find left by the soldiers along with a couple more handguns, and then turned our backs on that Dam, and our final standoff with those particular avenues of our past, for good.

— Chloe —

We trekked into the deep forest until night fell, and then made a hasty camp. None of us were hungry. It was one thing killing the infected, things in human form, but to kill actual other living human beings… I was sure that I'd not fired any fatal bullets, but I still couldn't shake whatever it was I was feeling in the aftermath of the encounter. I think what drove it home was seeing Bumper die. The soldiers, nameless and faceless, merely represented an enemy that we new to fear and defend against. It wasn't hard to understand that after what their leader had done to Beca. But when we saw someone we knew, someone we used to trust…. it was just a lot to take in. It wasn't until the next morning that we finally began to break the silence, one by one voicing our thoughts and bringing our emotions into the open. It started with Amy, as it so often did. She stood up, and folded her arms, her expression unreadable.

"I just want you all to know that I did that for all of you." We gazed up at her, and I felt tears forming. She looked sorrowful and uncertain, for the first time since I'd met her. It was almost as shocking a sight as what we'd seen last night. Suddenly Aubrey stood too, and burst into tears, reaching over and drawing her into a big hug.

"You did amazing Amy! You saved us!" She sobbed, and I found myself jumping across the circle to join her in squashing Amy into a hug.

"You did so great." I said, soothingly. Everyone was agreeing now.

"Y'all, that really was the wildest though." Cynthia-Rose laughed, wiping away a tear as Stacie squeezed her arm, nodding.

"It was you guys, but damn we freaking did it!" Jesse was smiling, and threw his arms around Donald and Benji, who were sat either side. Even Donald looked relieved, though I knew it must have been especially hard on him. Beca spoke up now, and we all turned to listen.

"That was… truly insane. I'm sorry to all of you about what happened with Bumper, and the guys from the hospital. It's hard for me to open up about shit like this but… I didn't think I was ever getting out of there. That was why I tried my absolute hardest to piss that guy off as much as possible and make it hard work for him, and I guess it worked a little too well. I've been… I've been scared of seeing him again ever since, and I-" I could see she was fighting back tears, and losing. But for the first time, she wasn't turning away to hide them from the group, or from me. They began to stream down her face, and she laughed, wiping at her face.

"I just wanted to let you guys know how grateful I am for everything you've done for me and all of us as a group since we've been together. I don't know what I'd do without you all." She sniffed, and I caught her eye, suddenly starstruck. I loved her so much I could hardly stand it. The both of us had really grown since we first started out on this crazy journey. In fact, all of us had.

"Aw we love ya short stuff!" Amy screeched, grabbing Beca into a friendly headlock and laughing madly. It was good to get it all out in the open, and the atmosphere of sorrow and worry lifted from the group as our tears fell together and finally dried up to be replaced with genuine happiness. The sun was finally poking through the thick canopy above us, and we had a little further to go before we could call our journey finished, but although in part it was only just starting I felt a heavy chapter closing behind us as we set off one more time, tied together by something we could never put into words.


	29. Epilogue

Epilogue

— Beca —

The first of the morning rays began to filter through the cracks in the blinds, and I rolled out of bed, stretching. Chloe had of course been up for at least an hour already, and I knew exactly where to find her. But first, I headed downstairs and put water on to boil, dumping a teaspoon of instant coffee into each of the two chipped black mugs on the counter, and filling them with water once it was ready. It wasn't long before I was ascending the stairs again, mugs in hand. It always frustrated me that I had such a prominent limp in the mornings, and I grumbled as I stumbled on the second to last step, sloshing burning coffee onto the landing. I hear a snort from the room ahead.

"You know you need to massage your leg before you get out of bed in the morning, babe." She chuckled, finally leaning back in her chair to look at me through the doorway as I approached, tongue poking out of my mouth as I concentrated. I walked round behind her and set the mugs down on her desk, only spilling a little more as I did so. She squealed and dabbed at the coffee-speckled pages, flapping at me with her spare hand. I leant down to kiss her, and her hands slowed as I did so, the spilled coffee forgotten temporarily. I pulled away, smiling.

"Don't nag at me about my old war wounds, you know I'm stubborn, it's part of my charm." She laughed at that, stroking my cheek lovingly before turning back to assess the damage. I followed her gaze, my eyes running over the mess of handrwitten pages scattered across her desk.

"How's it coming?"

"You know, I actually woke up in the night with SO many ideas for this last part, I think it's almost done!" She beamed, putting her hands to her face. I leant down again, pressing my forehead to hers and humming as she moved her hands to cup my face.

"Well I can't wait to read it then, in that case. I hope you're prepared for a harsh critique, don't think I'm gonna be going easy on you just because you're a hot piece of ass!" She squeaked in indignation, shoving me playfully and then squealing again for real as I fell flat on my own ass, still laughing. She got up, towering over me, and offered me a hand.

"I might have come down there if it wasn't for that comment." She giggled, and pulled me to my feet and into her arms. "We need to get going anyway, I think the others will be waiting on us if we're too much longer." She said. I sighed.

"Oh yeah, Amy's thing." She tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"You know you'll enjoy it once we're there, and besides, we promised her and everyone else we'd be there! We've barely seen them since the last run into town." I knew she was right, and so we traipsed into the bedroom together and began to get ready. Later, after dinner with our friends, she would finally present me with the first few chapters of her novel. At some point, many years ago when the world first turned upside down, I had imagined how that moment might feel, and what I might be doing. Safe to say it was everything I had hoped it could be, and then some. It was hard to compare the life we had now with the one I'd left behind all that time ago, but if asked, I would always say I was happier now, hands down. My life had purpose these days, and although with that came inevitable uncertainty and sometimes loss, I embraced it gladly day after day. Music filled my mind again too these days, and at night I lay beside the person I treasured beyond all else. Some days I would look back on what could have been, what we had lost, but mostly now I kept my focus forward, knowing there was always more to come. Nothing in life is ever easy, and sometimes even the best laid plans go to waste (that's like, a saying right?) but somehow, despite it all we'd made it. As we walked hand in hand to greet our friends, I felt a deep sense of satisfaction and peace wash over me. Things weren't completely static now, not by a long shot, but ultimately what we'd fought so hard for had become our reality, and it was perfect. After everything, we had finally reached the future we had painted in our past, and it moved me. Gazing up into the sunlight, I wasn't running anymore.


End file.
